Supernatural preteens face relatable challenges in this deftly balanced fantasy tale.
Seventh graders strive to follow their dreams at a magical school for the arts in Chastaine’s middle-grade novel.
A story in the magical boarding school vein with its own thoughtful approach, this lively fantasy, the first in a series, is well grounded in real-life concerns, including pressures from peers and parents, shaky self-confidence, and the importance of self-advocacy. Liska, Ephy, and Airin have just started seventh grade at the Eclipse Supernatural School for the Arts, where the students and faculty include witches, ghosts, phantoms, and even a Christmas elf. Liska is a shifter, able to take on the form of a fox. Ephy, from Olympia, is half-human, half-goddess. Airin is a banshee. All three face parental disapproval or disdain for their chosen artistic fields: Liska’s father insists that she carry on the family tradition of dance, but Liska is determined to study music; Airin, a subservient protector of the Darklighter family of enchanters, hopes to become a singer; and Ephy’s unloving mother (“who only smiled for photos”) pressures her to emulate her favored demigod brother’s TV and social media celebrity, but Ephy wants to use her light-shaping ability in the theater. Some of the colorful fantasy elements could use additional fleshing out (what is actually taught in the “Unlivables” class for friendly Ghost and Ghouls?), but the author’s empathy for young people struggling to follow their own paths despite internal and external challenges resonates, starting with the novel’s dedication to “anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t quite fit in” (this empathy is underscored when, as a simple, everyday courtesy, the characters introduce themselves to each other with their preferred pronouns). Friendships with like-minded peers and a few supportive adults make a difference, as does a defining moment in which Liska, Ephy, and Airin work together to create an original, autobiographical musical performance for a school competition. The novel’s third-person narration alternates perspectives between the three main characters—and intriguingly touches on a fourth when exploring what drives arrogant cellist Oliver Darklighter to bully Airin without excusing his behavior.
Supernatural preteens face relatable challenges in this deftly balanced fantasy tale.Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2023
ISBN: 979-8851778728
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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