A likable, family-oriented fantasy tale, defined by the warmth of its plot and character-building messages.
New friends, a snowstorm, and an impending rift between kingdoms lead an overlooked young prince to find his voice in this third installment of a middle-grade series.
In this latest fantasy novel revolving around the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Concordia, awkward, resentful Prince Jasper in the neighboring realm of Thisley is tired of being treated like a child by his coddling mother and his father, whom the teenager “secretly” feels sees him as “insignificant.” Punishment for Jasper’s thoughtless ridicule of a member of the court, a week working in the stables, gives the 15-year-old prince the beginnings of a new perspective. His efforts earn respect and camaraderie from the stable hands and master. Jasper’s understanding of himself and others evolves further when he accompanies his mother to Concordia, where his older sister, the realm’s queen, is expecting her second child. In snowy Concordia , Jasper’s strength of character gradually emerges with the help of new friends Olive, the “Honorary Princess,” and Toby Tatter, the Concordia king’s page; a life-threatening avalanche; the secret of a missing map; and the prince’s earned self-confidence. If readers expect supernatural happenings or magic in what is essentially the story of misunderstandings among a well-meaning, extended family and those closest to them, they will be disappointed. Even the crises that arise are only mildly suspenseful. The book’s strengths are its well-defined, sympathetic characters; its colorful kingdom settings in olden times; and Jasper’s relatable journey toward self-discovery. Still, those familiar with the previous installments in Mager’s (Under the Summer Sun, 2017, etc.) pleasant series are best served here. The otherwise well-conceived narrative would benefit from fewer explanatory asides to inform new readers about what has occurred before in Concordia. Conversely, the author’s lessons in understanding and empathy, delivered through the experiences of Jasper and virtually all of the main characters, are threaded throughout the story with an admirably smooth touch.
A likable, family-oriented fantasy tale, defined by the warmth of its plot and character-building messages.Pub Date: April 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-985758-24-7
Page Count: 182
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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