A potent, heartrending story about surviving upheaval and discovering that some rescues work both ways.
In this series opener, a neglected horse becomes the lifeline an 11-year-old didn’t know she needed.
Harper is reeling: Her parents decided to divorce after she discovered her father’s affair with her best friend Cat’s mom. Now Harper and her mother have relocated to cramped quarters in rural Sommer Springs, Tennessee, next door to a riding barn that Harper initially wants little to do with. Then a starved, neglected horse is abandoned right in front of Harper, and something shifts. She names the animal Phoenix, and their mutual rescue begins. Bradley deftly weaves humor into even the darkest moments—an image of dead chickens on a clothesline becomes both absurd and laden with meaning—while never minimizing the genuine pain of divorce, betrayal, and starting over. What emerges is a compelling portrait of how life’s gifts arrive unbidden, even amid catastrophe. The barn community feels authentically diverse and welcoming: Miss Chelsea, the barn owner, is Black; Dante, Harper’s first friend, is Puerto Rican; Night, another rider at the stable, uses they/them pronouns; and Harper is presumed white. Bradley captures what divorce and infidelity steal from children—trust, stability, the sense of a coherent world—while demonstrating how connection, human and equine, can help us rebuild what’s broken. The horse care details ring true without overwhelming the emotional arc.
A potent, heartrending story about surviving upheaval and discovering that some rescues work both ways. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780593859865
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
An adventurous work whose authentic voice celebrates the outdoors and everyday heroism.
A summer spent summiting the Adirondacks allows a teenager to reckon with grief.
Thirteen-year-old Finn Connelly’s summer is off to a rocky start. In addition to several incomplete class assignments—including a poetry project about heroes—he’s facing vandalism charges after an angry outburst at the local cemetery. To avoid paying thousands in fines that his family can’t spare, he reluctantly agrees to the proffered alternative: climbing all 46 Adirondack peaks over 4,000 feet by Labor Day accompanied by Seymour, the enthusiastic dog who belonged to the woman whose headstone he damaged. As Finn attempts the hikes, he wrestles with what it means to be a hero, a term often used for his deceased father, a local hockey legend, New York City firefighter, 9/11 first responder, and paramedic who died on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. This verse novel is engaging and easy to follow. It encompasses varied structures, like haiku, sonnet, and found poetry. Other ephemera, such as letters, recipes, and school progress reports, create visual breaks evocative of a commonplace book. The first-person narration vividly conveys a disgruntled teenager’s feelings, including moments of humor and contemplation. The novel wrestles with loss and legacy intertwined with weighty events, challenges, and themes—PTSD, alcoholism, toxic masculinity—and their resulting impact on Finn’s emotional well-being. The supporting characters are encouraging adult role models. Characters present white.
An adventurous work whose authentic voice celebrates the outdoors and everyday heroism. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781547616398
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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