Comic adventures and serious courage mix well in this middle-grade novel.
In this comedy/horror chapter book, a boy sleepwalks into another world where he must fight a demon.
The night before starting sixth grade, Brady is nervous and can’t sleep. What if other kids hate him, or ignore him, or give him a horrible nickname? “Oh no—they were going to call him Snotface. It was official,” he worries. Finally drifting off, Brady finds himself standing asleep before his mirror, which summons his spirit into another world. A sinister demon tells Brady that he can’t go home until he completes a quest: return the demon’s lost pet beast, Sheila, from the Dangerous Forest. Journeying and noting events in his diary, Brady meets elflike creatures called the Ground Folk, who were chased into the Forest by the demon. They address Brady as “The One.” The Great Elder proposes that Brady act as a Trojan horse and attack the demon with the aid of Sheila, and the Ground Folk will join in. But this plan goes awry, and the Folk, with Brady, retreat to Horizon City. When the demon attacks the city at the head of an army of Molts, similar to dwarves, a fierce battle ensues. With the help of the wise Lady of the City, Brady must test his bravery before returning home to his bed and sixth grade. Shah (Adult Coloring Book Horror Land: Devil’s Child, 2017, etc.) leaves behind his usual comedy gross-out theme for this equally entertaining fantasy adventure. Though the book leans on standard tropes (the portal, the quest, the prophesied savior), Shah doesn’t take them too seriously. Instead, the tropes serve as a framework for comedy, of which there’s plenty, and for Brady’s personal growth. This means not just becoming braver, but more empathetic. When Brady sees his friend Lym and other Ground Folk joining the fight against the demon, he realizes that “I couldn’t let her fight. As brave as she was, she wouldn’t survive.” With new determination, he confronts the demon head-on. Sixth grade will be peanuts.
Comic adventures and serious courage mix well in this middle-grade novel.Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2017
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 83
Publisher: 99 Pages or Less Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A heavy-handed but sometimes moving plea for environmental awareness.
In Yates’ earnest debut novel, conflict between humans and the environment comes to a head.
Brilliant young dendrologist Emily Westwood and her boyfriend are expecting a pleasant outing in Central Park when the laws of physics abruptly shift: They and everyone else in the Park are levitated gently into the air, where they float briefly before being returned safely to the ground. In the ensuing chaos, news breaks that similar events occurred around the globe. As world leaders trade theories and accusations, Emily and her mentor set out to determine the meaning of the mysterious events. Despite that suspenseful setup, the body of the book contains very little action. Instead, it delves into its characters’ past, examining Emily’s childhood and the origins of her interest in trees. It’s not until the very end that readers return to the present-day excitement. That structure robs the novel of narrative momentum, but it also allows for a lovely, lyrical exploration of the natural world. Yates devotes long passages to describing things like “the countless blades of grass…patiently waiting for a maestro to lift breezes’ baton.” Though the writing is often grandiose, its overall effect is powerful, and readers are left awed by nature. Unfortunately, the book’s focus on conveying an environmental message largely overshadows its plot and characters. The narrative is full of jarring detours into didacticism; in a representative example, the narrator breaks into the story to say: “If the tyranny of the Greeds continues to steer the world…our Earth can be spoiled beyond salvation.” When the characters talk or think, they all parrot the same sentiments. Because the novel repeats the same rhetoric ad nauseam, it fails to develop individual characters and loses the story’s emotional pull. Subplots about Emily’s faltering health and her relationship with her boyfriend feel inconsequential when Emily herself lacks believability as a person. Still, the ideas presented here are timely and affecting, and a creative denouement offers a new spin on human beings’ relationship with the natural world.
A heavy-handed but sometimes moving plea for environmental awareness.Pub Date: April 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615604626
Page Count: 318
Publisher: Ronald Yates
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A compelling narrator drives this strong, sympathetic tale that begets metaphysical soul-searching.
In a future where artificial humans have become common household helpers, a government-employed therapist must question his faith in the system he has long supported.
Orphaned at a young age, Jay was raised by a “humaniform,” a robot programmed as a caretaker. Jay’s older brother, Ian, was 18 when their parents died. Jay loved his robotic mother, and he feels abandoned and betrayed by Ian, who hates humaniforms. When Ian reappears in Jay’s life, he asks Jay to testify that Ian is a responsible enough father to take custody of his children without the help of a humaniform. Jay hopes that Ian might learn to accept humaniforms. But Ian persists in trying to prove that the robots and the government that provides them—the government that Jay works for—are both corrupt and dangerous. As Ian tries to influence Jay’s life, Jay realizes that his wife, Sasha, may not be as sympathetic toward his work as she had always appeared. In order to defend his own position, and protect his childhood memories, Jay must probe into the workings of his world—and he begins to see that there is a sinister element behind his apparently benevolent government. Though Tsui’s setting may not hold up to deep analysis, Jay’s imperfect understanding of it allows readers to see the world through a filtered lens—and share Jay’s horror as he unravels the truth behind the system he thought he knew. His relationships, with humans and humaniforms alike, are genuine in their complexity, and as Jay begins to understand the truth, he ultimately learns how much he values his loved ones. Questions of human identity, illusion versus reality and the types of sacrifice required for true caregiving continually move the story forward.
A compelling narrator drives this strong, sympathetic tale that begets metaphysical soul-searching.Pub Date: June 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0985667603
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Onieros Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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