A diverting mashup of adventure, SF, and familiar creatures.
In Burnett’s debut middle-grade fantasy, earthling twins are stranded on a faraway planet teeming with dangerous mythical beings.
Phoebe and Clarence Davey may be fraternal twins, but these tweens could not be more different. Phoebe is the outgoing athletic one, and her brother is the bookworm that bullies target. They’re both excited when a carnival rolls into their town—it’s there that a soothsayer tells them that their late grandparents Horatio and Selia Ugstad possessed a “powerful object.” The couple had been magicians who used a magic coin in their act, likely the same coin Phoebe and Clarence discover at the Ugstads’ abandoned cabin. When this coin opens a portal, Lodurr, an imp, passes into their world. When they find a way back to Lodurr’s “Wish Star World,” they’re stuck, running across all sorts of beings, from fairies and wizards to menacing lizards. The two will have to find someone to trust if they want any chance of getting back to Earth. The author’s impressive worldbuilding delivers enthralling details, especially regarding the reputedly extinct imps and their six Wish Coins (“Being the oldest society on the planet, imps were a powerful and gifted people capable of natural magic and life longevity”). The story drops Phoebe and Clarence into a motley cast of pirates, gargoyles, and merpeople. The twins make great leads; they squabble just like siblings do, but their closeness is without question. It’s Lodurr, however, who steals the book: In a highlight of the story, the twins have no choice but to take Lodurr to school (as their cousin), where he stirs up trouble in fun, unexpected ways. The author describes environments well and smartly simplifies them as the story unfurls across planets light-years apart. As some plot and character avenues are left unexplored, it seems clear that Burnett has a series in mind.
A diverting mashup of adventure, SF, and familiar creatures.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1670895530
Page Count: 238
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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