by Luli Gray ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1995
A wonderfully beguiling story of a Manhattan sixth grader who finds something unusual in Central Park. Falcon's first thought when she sees the large, red egg that is almost too hot to hold is that it must be a secret. She slips it past her mother and hides it with a neighbor. Months later, before a fascinated audience that includes Great-Aunt Emily and Freddy, a museum ornithologist, Egg hatchesa baby dragon. Caring for a dragon is no easy task; Egg eats everything except birdseed, won't drink anything that isn't boiling, and becomes dangerously hot. Further, his wings begin to develop. Despite the usual disclaimer, these characters don't seem fictitious; from bumbling Freddy to lonely, fiercely possessive Falcon, each has a past (especially Emily, who turns out to know an amazing amount about dragons), a distinct personality, and an individual voice. Egg, too is entirely convincing, with her tiny red scales, golden claws, and distracted air; like a lion cub or a young hawk, she seems tame when small, but is really a dangerous wild animal, and in the end, she must be released. In a grand debut, Gray deftly mixes the marvelous and the ordinary, adding touches of comedy and magic, enriching the plot with well-chosen subplots, and leaving out predictable twists and bad guysFalcon's conflicts are almost entirely internal ones. Engaging, intelligent, and well-wrought: the best dragon story since Donn Kushner's A Book Dragon (1988). (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-395-71128-2
Page Count: 133
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1995
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by Wanda Coven ; illustrated by Anna Abramskaya ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Fun middle school antics with a dollop of light magic and considerations of loyalty.
Heidi Heckelbeck is a witch and first-year student at Broomfield Academy, a boarding school that educates magical and nonmagical kids alike.
Heidi’s an ordinary tween, concerned with clothes, friendships, crushes (currently on Nick Lee, who’s not in the School of Magic), and her tenuous relationship with Melanie, her often-mean “broommate” and acquaintance from home. She’s also excited about learning witchcraft and is pleased to receive private magic lessons from Mrs. Kettledrum. Her teacher instructs her in calming meditation techniques as a prelude to mind-reading and emergency spells. Sometimes Heidi writes spells enthusiastically but incorrectly, however, with unintended consequences. She also faces a difficult decision about revealing a big secret about new friend Isabelle. Heidi pushes the boundaries of appropriate behavior (both in the real world and the magical one) and must think hard about self-discipline. Breezy and fun, this volume will satisfy devotees who have enjoyed following this engaging character since she was in elementary school, with each entry slowly but surely moving up in complexity as Heidi grows and becomes a little more serious. Her latest adventures are delivered with the usual humorous grayscale illustrations and fonts that vary in size and style, moving the story along quickly. The volume will entice new fans, welcome reluctant readers, and please those who have been awaiting Heidi’s latest exploits. Isabelle reads Black; other central characters are cued white.
Fun middle school antics with a dollop of light magic and considerations of loyalty. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781665948340
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon Spotlight
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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by Wanda Coven ; illustrated by Anna Abramskaya ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 29, 2023
An entertaining and funny take on middle school drama with a light magical touch.
Heidi is a young witch attending middle school at Broomsfield Academy, a boarding school catering to both magical and nonmagical students.
Kids with magical powers must only use those skills for schoolwork, but Heidi can’t always control herself, like when she’s running late for class and needs to get dressed in a hurry. Her obsession with classmate Hunter McCann (aka Hunter McCutie) is threatening to take over her life. Melanie, her roommate and once her hometown enemy but now almost a friend, also has a crush on Hunter, who is actually a really nice boy. Heidi tries to hide her feelings from Melanie, but she pours out her heart to good friends Sunny and Annabelle. She also writes to Lucy, her BFF back home, about her situation. While Melanie is interested in flirting and makeup, Heidi’s closest friends give her good advice: “Just be yourself.” Nevertheless, Heidi keeps using witchcraft: first, growing long hair to attract Hunter (it backfires when her hair grows uncontrollably). She later attempts the love potion spell that inspires the title, hoping to isolate Hunter so that she can have him to herself. However, Heidi soon learns how harmful her behavior was. Readers looking for breezy fare will enjoy this second series installment, which uses varied size fonts, ample white space, and humorous digital grayscale illustrations. Most main characters present white.
An entertaining and funny take on middle school drama with a light magical touch. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781665937207
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Simon Spotlight
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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