An exciting YA thriller with supernatural elements and a brave, enterprising heroine.
A young American woman in Czechoslovakia goes on a quest for an immortality potion in this debut young-adult thriller.
After the Iron Curtain is lifted in 1991, 18-year-old Hana Silna travels to Prague to take possession of The Rockery, her family home. She’s flying alone because her father is dead and her mother is seriously ill. Her Czech cousins, The Rockery’s co-owners, greet her with friendly warmth. Soon after she arrives, however, Hana finds herself embroiled in a dangerous search for a flask once owned by an alchemist who knew the secret of immortality. Aided by diplomat’s son Alex Williams and others, Hana explores Prague landmarks, castles and even torture chambers. She races to unravel centuries-old riddles, dodging bad guys as she figures out whom she can trust. In her debut novel, DeBruce makes good use of her beautiful setting, intelligently showcasing Prague’s local history, art, people and places. She also ups the ante by including several vulnerable characters for Hana to worry about, such as Alex’s sister, who suffers from a severe medical condition. The author also nicely handles the immortality aspect with reasonably scientific explanations. Hana has a wry, likeable first-person voice; at one point, she considers calling her mother, but wonders what to say: “The good news is we have The Rockery back; the bad news is I’m being chased all over Prague by an immortal psycho killer.” Meanwhile, motorcycle-riding Alex is a useful and, Hana must admit, attractive partner. DeBruce sustains the mystery by periodically using a second narrator (other than Hana), known as the Nomad. The sometimes violent action moves quickly, with exciting chases and unexpected twists. After the story ends with “To Be Continued,” readers will likely to want to see more of Hana and Alex.
An exciting YA thriller with supernatural elements and a brave, enterprising heroine.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-484-88453-9
Page Count: 277
Publisher: Quicksilver Legacy Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
In an imaginative wordless picture book, Wiesner (illustrator of Kite Flyer, 1986) tours a dream world suggested by the books and objects in a boy's room. A series of transitions—linked by a map in the book that the boy was reading as he fell asleep—wafts him, pajama-clad, from an aerial view of hedge-bordered fields to a chessboard with chess pieces, some changing into their realistic counterparts (plus a couple of eerie roundheaded figures based on pawns that reappear throughout); next appear a castle; a mysterious wood in which lurks a huge, whimsical dragon; the interior of a neoclassical palace; and a series of fantastic landscapes that eventually transport the boy back to his own bed. Most interesting here are the visual links Wiesner uses in his journey's evolution; it's fun to trace the many details from page to page. There's a bow to Van Allsburg, and another to Sendak's In the Night Kitchen, but Wiesner's broad double-spreads of a dream world—whose muted colors suggest a silent space outside of time—have their own charm. Intriguing.
Pub Date: April 20, 1988
ISBN: 978-0-06-156741-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1988
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