A charming fantasy tale with contemporary elements that may occasionally stretch the limits of credibility.
In Kallinikos’ debut YA fantasy novel, an intrepid elf must foil a plot to stop the production of stories.
Hamilton Cashew, an elf with the power of levitation and a vivid imagination, lives in Blix Largus, a suburb of the city of Literatus. Hamilton studied Creative Arts at the university and hopes to join the Story Weavers, a group of highly skilled elves responsible for story creation in the kingdom. He currently works as a book stacker in the Literatus Library, where he encounters Effluvius Acorn, the general manager of the Story Weaving Factory. Effluvius has a major problem: Despite the factory’s strict controls, a key ingredient in the story weaving process has disappeared, along with the ingredient’s recipe. Effluvius wants to locate the book that contains the recipe and make a replacement batch before the theft is noticed. After a search of the library proves futile, Hamilton suggests finding the wizard who originally wrote the recipe. Effluvius agrees and sets Hamilton on an incredible journey, during which he encounters powerful allies, unlikely villains and a devious plot. The fantasy elements of the story work well, but the modern touches may seem a bit out of place to some readers; Literatus is populated with elves, fairies, pixies and other magical creatures who cast spells, weave stories and fear witches, yet they also have access to computers, watch reality television, and order pizza. However, Hamilton is a brave, likeable hero of impressive ingenuity, and Kallinikos surrounds him with a well-developed supporting cast, including a cantankerous but helpful wizard named Festoon Gregarious. The nicely paced story also offers some clever action scenes, including one in which Hamilton is trapped inside a painting depicting a bullfight.
A charming fantasy tale with contemporary elements that may occasionally stretch the limits of credibility.Pub Date: March 14, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 231
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
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