Supernaturally cool.
When the last supernatural criminal adult in their seaside hideout dies, their five children journey to the far-flung country of Estero.
To escape the outside world with its harsh stigma against anyone supernatural, the eight parents fled to a coastal refuge following a final heist 15 years ago. However, a need for supplies pulled most of them back to Estero, trips from which they mysteriously never returned, leaving just one parent behind. Three years later, 13-year-old Birdie Golden’s father succumbs to an illness; his final request that she find her mother haunts Birdie. Reluctantly, the five supernatural young people—Birdie, who communicates with animals; her younger brother, Brix, who heals rapidly; Seven Palacio, whose body is perpetually camouflaged; Tenner Cordoba, who has extrasensory strengths; and Cabot Stone, who has great talents but has yet to develop any powers—depart for Estero City. Armed with a flame-enchanted map that leads to the final heist’s stash, they travel across sea and jungle to a city full of modern wonders, secret allies, and an anti-supernatural plot at the highest levels of society. The narrative jumps among the characters’ internal perspectives, highlighting each of their personal conflicts in ways that reveal their individual complexities. Though the worldbuilding is rather wobbly and there are loose threads (hopefully to be resolved in a sequel), plenty of humor and fun demonstrations of powers keep readers’ attention. Names and skin tone are used to indicate some diversity among the cast.
Supernaturally cool. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-32540-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
An entertaining continuation to a magical series that celebrates diversity with a magical twist.
With Rumpelstiltskin and his band of villains still on the loose, the students and staff of Fairy Tale Reform School are on high alert as they prepare for the next attack.
Classes are devoted to teaching battle techniques and conjuring new weapons, which narrator Gilly finds preferable to learning history or manners. But Maxine, her ogress friend, has had it with all the doom and gloom. The last straw is when the agenda at the Royal Lady-in-Waiting meeting is changed from “How to Plan the Perfect Fairy Garden Party” to designing flying rocks and creating flower darts. While on a class field trip to the village to investigate their future careers, Maxine finds a magic lamp housing a genie named Darlene. Her wish that everyone be happy works a little too well. War preparations are put on hold as the school fills with flowers, laughter, and plans for a musical production. But when Gilly is tapped to fill in for the local chief of the dwarf police, things really take a turn for the worse. The students, including fairies, ogres, and the part-human/part-beast offspring of Beauty and the ex-Beast, focus on friendship and supporting one another in spite of their differences. Humility, forgiveness, and loyalty are also highly regarded in the FTRS community. Human Gilly is white, but there is racial as well as species diversity at FTRS.
An entertaining continuation to a magical series that celebrates diversity with a magical twist. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5167-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
An adventurous, otherworldly story that explores emotional themes.
A 12-year-old witch is responsible for saving her family and town from evil.
Esmerelda Santos is a bruja—a descendant of one of the four original witches, who vanished along with their special daggers. Usually, brujxes can command one element. Esme’s sister, Lenny, is of Water, and her best friend, Tiago, is of Air, but Esme is a Chaos witch. All she wants to do with her power is ease her father’s grief over her mother’s death. When she finds a heart spell, Esme believes she can use it to heal him. While she and Tiago are off gathering the ingredients, however, a storm hits, and all the witches vanish, along with the town’s magic. Esme returns to find Lenny, who’s been stabbed with a dagger. Lenny delivers a cryptic message before going up in smoke: They must find an original witch from the Legend of Ire. Esme and Tiago travel to a “banished realm where forbidden magic runs wild,” befriend a cursed fox, and find their way through portals to confront an unknown evil. If they fail, their families will be lost to Oblivion and their town of San Bosco will cease to exist. While readers must initially follow many different threads, the storyline smooths out as it develops. Once the worldbuilding is established, readers will be rewarded by being transported into the magical, mysterious world Esme inhabits as they follow her journey of self-discovery through grief and love. Final art not seen.
An adventurous, otherworldly story that explores emotional themes. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780063312074
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
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