A lively, culturally grounded adventure likely to hook fantasy fans.
A young girl becomes an unlikely hero.
In the kingdom of Van Lang (modeled after Vietnam), every child’s 10th birthday brings a life-shaping ritual: a visit to the Choosing Place, where an animal ally bonds with them for life. Once each generation, four creatures choose children destined to become the Legendary Allies Team. These protectors are tasked with confronting the lingering harms of the long-past Dark Times, including climate issues, war, and cultural erasure. Mai, an anxious girl preoccupied with her mother’s fragile health, hardly expects to be chosen. Yet she bonds with Ruby, a baby phoenix, one of the rare Legendary animals. In training to become a Healer, Mai joins two other newly chosen children and their powerful allies (the identity of the fourth youngster has yet to be revealed). Doubts plague Mai, personalities clash, and tempers flare as the fledgling heroes prepare for their first quest—all broadcast on the Legendary Allies Team channel. The brisk pacing and clearly defined stakes often outstrip deeper character development, but the momentum will keep the pages turning. Manga-style illustrations rich with Vietnamese motifs add warmth and visual clarity, especially in depicting imaginative ailments, like the “heart sickness” that comes from forgetting one’s cultural roots. Inclusive touches (Mai’s family has two mothers; some characters use they/them pronouns) are seamlessly woven into the narrative.
A lively, culturally grounded adventure likely to hook fantasy fans. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781834020693
Page Count: 172
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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