A pleasing adventure.
George and his neighbor, Ada, daughter of the poet Lord Byron, embark on a wild adventure involving flying machines, pirates, and stolen artifacts.
George, third Lord of Devonshire, is a cautious boy, convinced that he lives under a curse in his house at No. 8 Dorset Square. Both his reprobate father and adored grandfather died when George turned 10. George and a remaining family servant, Frobisher, live by selling off the furnishings in the house. When a thief attempting to take George’s grandfather’s legacy, a map to the legendary Star of Victory, a “stone that assured its owner of success in battle,” is thwarted by an ingenious mechanical bird, George follows the bird to No. 5, where he discovers that the bird’s inventor is Ada, a clever, fearless, and strong-minded girl. When Ada launches a mission to find the Star of Victory, artistic Oscar, who longs to find his pirate captain father, and Ruthie, a rescued baby orangutan, stow away on her flying machine. The journey takes the group to Lake Geneva and the prison of Chillon, then on to Venice and an encounter with Charles Darwin. Oscar, whose mother was Tahitian, is brown-skinned, while all the other characters are white. The breathless plot is jam-packed with roguish thieves, tantalizing clues, and mild intrigue, and the narrative is filled with wry humor and kindness as George gradually gives up his self-centered sense of doom. An author’s note provides some factual information about Ada Byron Lovelace.
A pleasing adventure. (Fantasy/steampunk. 9-12)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-47149-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Alternately humorous and heartrending, this lively fantasy will have wide appeal.
Can a 12-year-old girl and a dragon awakened from a 1,000-year nap save the world?
In the Draconic Empire, magic is forbidden outside the imperial bloodline. Any other magic use will summon the Revenants, who killed the dragons and the mighty Dragon Mage a millennium ago. Or will it? Five years ago, Ciara found Dragon Mage apprentice Bianca’s magical journal. Bianca’s exuberant, irreverent entries describe a warm (“She’s a hugger”), generous mage with “tawny-brown skin” who wanted dragons to teach all humans to use magic. Living in a mining village that’s been devastated by its cruel Warden’s greed and the Skael Cough that killed her father, Ciara yearns for magical assistance. Then, with the journal’s help, she accidentally wakens a long-sleeping dragon. Can Scorch, who was Bianca’s magister, teach Ciara magic so she can save both her town and her ailing mother? With the Warden willing to ravage and kill for the journal, the cliffhanger ending promises more peril to come. This fast-paced adventure’s hilariously dry humor may not prepare readers for the utter despair of other elements of the story. The characters are memorable and sympathetic, especially impulsive, brave Ciara, who’s cued white, and snarky, protective Scorch, both of whom are guilt-ridden for different reasons. They share the main narration, sometimes confusingly switching viewpoints within scenes. Avid fantasy readers will appreciate the complex magic system.
Alternately humorous and heartrending, this lively fantasy will have wide appeal. (Draconic spells) (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593813171
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Labyrinth Road
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
Reflective children will revel in this thought-provoking world.
The journey to find a child becomes an existential quest for an abandoned teddy bear.
Buddy is not just any stuffed bear, but a blue Furrington Teddy with a Real Silk Heart. So why did he wake up in a landfill with other Furringtons of varying hues? A more pressing matter, however, is escaping Trashland and its murderous gulls and bulldozers. Yearning to connect with a child and achieve a state of peaceful Forever Sleep, Buddy and his new friends of differing temperaments and gifts set out on a harrowing journey through the city to find children who will want them. As they encounter other Furringtons in disarray, this opener in The Teddies Saga series becomes a mystery about why these teddies are being harmed in the first place. While the visceral narrative follows the teddy troupe’s adventurous challenges and survival, its focus is on Buddy’s inner struggles as he ponders identity, leadership, and other existential dilemmas. Kraus doesn’t shy away from anger, fear, death, and other dark subjects; instead they become opportunities for growth in difficult environments. Cai’s intense, slightly nightmarish grayscale illustrations add immeasurably to the text. Reminiscent of Watership Down in theme and structure, the novel’s intermittent teddy creation stories also become parables of a moral code and extend the epic story arc. A cliffhanger ending sets the scene for the next installment.
Reflective children will revel in this thought-provoking world. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-22440-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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