Devourers of fractured fairy tales will enjoy this kindhearted take on two classics.
Two heroes trade places in a lightweight fairy-tale mashup.
After some magical shenanigans, Belle, the daughter of a down-on-his-luck widower, wakes up one morning lying in a fireplace and facing a woman and her two daughters, who demand that she act as their servant. Elsewhere in Reverie, Ella, an orphan with a glass leg, is being kept captive in an enchanted castle by the beast of the woods. Both girls display considerable pluck and intelligence, standard-issue characteristics in fairy-tale reimaginings. The twist comes from the introduction of a third hero—a rebellious, bad-tempered princess who’s mysteriously disappeared from the capital city of Miravale. Belle teams up with the princess’ brother, Crown Prince Amir, in an effort to discover her whereabouts and escape her own servitude. Does the missing royal have anything to do with the grumpy beast living in the cursed castle in the forest, now befriending Ella? Many readers will spot the stories’ connections long before the official reveal, but they’ll nevertheless appreciate the resourcefulness and empathy of each of the girls as they strive to overcome their magical obstacles and help those around them. Bussing takes the popular trope of reframing villains’ stories to an intriguing extreme by offering everyone (even Ella’s stepmother) sympathy and psychological motives for their misbehavior. Ella and Belle are cued white; Amir and his sister have olive skin and dark hair.
Devourers of fractured fairy tales will enjoy this kindhearted take on two classics. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593708033
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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