New York’s labyrinthine American Museum of Natural History becomes the site of more marvels, as the author of Falcon’s Egg (1995) sends fraternal twins Alice and Fig spinning into a diorama that is also a gateway in time and space. It’s a “bad, sad, mad” time for the twins, whose mother lies in a coma after an accident. Seeking some solace in roaming the halls of the museum where she works, the twins chance upon a window that isn’t glass, and find themselves in 1913 France, where a museum expedition is collecting rare specimens. Their attempt to return to their own time sends them further back—thousands of years, in fact, to meet Oomor, a friendly Neanderthal shaman who introduces them to another victim of the diorama, a genial museum artist named Hieronymous Quigley who has not only taught Oomor broken English, but turned him into an accomplished cave painter as well. Oomor also proves to have a will of iron, and though all three visitors are understandably reluctant to attempt another return to the 20th century, he chivvies them into trying. All ends well—better than expected, in fact, for by journeying into the past, the twins have changed the future, and among other pleasant surprises, their mother is awake and waiting for them. Despite the stressful family situation, this lightweight adventure, featuring bright ten-year-old protagonists, a colorful supporting cast, encounters with woolly mammoths and other extinct creatures, and more discomfort than outright danger, will provide an enjoyable ride for fans of science-tinged fantasy. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 21, 2003
ISBN: 0-618-16412-X
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
However tried and true, the Harry Potter–esque elements and set pieces don’t keep this cumbersome coming-of-age tale afloat,...
Full-blown middle-volume-itis leaves this continuation of the tale of a teenage elf who has been genetically modified for so-far undisclosed purposes dead in the water.
As the page count burgeons, significant plot developments slow to a trickle. Thirteen-year-old Sophie manifests yet more magical powers while going head-to-head with hostile members of the Lost Cities Council and her own adoptive elvin father, Grady, over whether the clandestine Black Swan cabal, her apparent creators and (in the previous episode) kidnappers, are allies or enemies. Messenger tries to lighten the tone by dressing Sophie and her classmates at the Hogwarts-ian Foxfire Academy as mastodons for a silly opening ceremony and by having her care for an alicorn—a winged unicorn so magnificent that even its poop sparkles. It’s not enough; two sad memorial services, a trip to a dreary underground prison, a rash of adult characters succumbing to mental breakdowns and a frequently weepy protagonist who is increasingly shunned as “the girl who was taken” give the tale a soggy texture. Also, despite several cryptic clues and a late attack by hooded figures, neither the identity nor the agenda of the Black Swan comes closer to being revealed.
However tried and true, the Harry Potter–esque elements and set pieces don’t keep this cumbersome coming-of-age tale afloat, much less under way. (Fantasy 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4596-3
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center.
Armed only with her magical sewing needle, foundling mouse Delphine sets out to confront the cruel rat king in this duology closer.
As vicious rat armies pillage the mouse realms in search of her and her pointy, long-hidden treasure, Delphine finds herself waging an inner war that parallels the outer one. According to dusty documents and other reputable sources, the needle’s good powers can be perverted, but she sees no other way except killing to stop evil rat King Midnight. While struggling with a grim determination to go over to the dark side that sets her at odds with her own fundamentally loving nature, Delphine threads her way along with loyal allies past various scrapes—only to come, climactically, face to face with not only her nemesis, but her own past. Moon stitches in flashbacks to fill out the details of a tragic old love triangle that reaches its fruition here and sews her tale up with a return to Château Desjardins just in time for Cinderella’s wedding and a celebratory rodentine ball in the chandelier overhead, and she leaves a fringe of epilogue hinting at further installments to come.
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center. (secret codes) (Animal fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-04833-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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