Weak writing ruins a nicely structured integration of Arthurian legend with a Grimm’s fairy tale. Rowena’s locked up with her 11 sisters because her father’s afraid that they’ll disappear like their mother, Vivienne, the Lady of the Lake. Each night they disappear underground, where dancing destroys their elegant slippers. Elsewhere, Sir Bedivere promises a dying King Arthur to return Excalibur to Vivienne. Bedivere and Rowena share reciprocal mystical visions in which they fall in love. The sisters’ nightly dancing, as well as their goal of finding their lost mother, leads to the same enchanted underground lake as Bedivere’s task of honor. Details of “Twelve Dancing Princesses” are skillfully woven in with the Camelot plot; however, the text is cluttered with modifiers, the narration is unsubtle and trite and the workings of magic are shallow. Instead, see Vivian Vande Velde’s Book of Mordred (July 2005) and Dia Calhoun’s Phoenix Dance (October 2005). (Fantasy. 10-12)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-4169-0579-0
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Peter, an 11-year-old traffic fatality, finds himself looking down on his funeral as a voice offers him a do-over. He...
Another ingenious but leaky story from Sleator (The Boxes, 1998, etc.), likely to leave readers more puzzled than intrigued.
Peter, an 11-year-old traffic fatality, finds himself looking down on his funeral as a voice offers him a do-over. He eagerly accepts, only to discover that the past has a stubborn momentum; he’s killed again, gets another chance, and blows that one, too. Convinced that the key to survival lies in winning the appreciation of his clueless, cold-hearted parents, Peter displays consideration by waiting hand and foot on his pregnant mother, creativity by putting on an elaborate puppet show to explain his feelings, and cleverness by predicting local events that haven’t yet happened, then contriving to shift the resulting public furor onto a bullying classmate. Apparently, all of this makes him a more thoughtful person, so his fatal attraction to passing automobiles ceases. The premise, with its echoes of many books and movies, will only be new to very inexperienced readers, but the cheerlessness of Peter’s home life gives the whole story a drab cast, and the internal logic seems more convenient than consistent. Sleator has a following, but he won’t win any new fans with this one. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: July 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-46130-2
Page Count: 122
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1999
A futuristic society that requires fish to feed its populace begins an underwater habitat designed to increase sunlight on the seafloor in order to produce plankton. Unknown saboteurs suddenly threaten the existence of the habitat and all humankind by destroying one-third of the habitat’s sunlight. Young Imina uses her grandmother’s shaman magic to narrow in on the culprit; her friend Ivan uses logic and technology, i.e., computers. The villains are not the obvious choice—the Unificationists, who created a crop virus that made the underwater habitat necessary—but rather, angry whales. They are trying to disharmonize the habitat’s motors to drive human beings away and prevent additional whales from being hunted. A truce must be swiftly attained or humans will starve. Imina’s ability to use mental telepathy and “speak” with the whales saves the habitat and reminds the reader of the importance of preserving the sea and its creatures. This unlikely combination of science fiction, Inuit lore, and ecology also brings a much-needed wake-up call about being a thoughtful steward of the earth’s resources. It would be hard to miss the final message: human technology alone will not bring about desired results if environmental harmony isn’t also considered in the equation. Imina’s determination to become a skilled shaman and claim her Inuit name will strike a nerve with all young women coming into their own. All in all, a delightful first novel. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7868-0561-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
