Sweet, fun, Sapphic fluff.
A new love with a mysterious girl upends a Canadian teen’s plans.
Morgan Kwon likes to keep her “life tucked neatly into boxes,” especially the one containing the secret that she is gay. She doesn’t believe she can be out until she’s away from her small island and in college. There’s enough drama in her life already with her recently divorced parents and angry younger brother. After Morgan is rescued from drowning by a selkie girl named Keltie who has big shiny eyes and a round face, she keeps their blossoming romance secret. Keltie has her own goals, though, and being quiet isn’t one of them. She needs Morgan’s help, but that will take Morgan’s willingness to open up about herself to others. Selkie lore is enchantingly interwoven in this light fantasy tale that also touches on environmentalism with a plotline regarding pollution of the seals’ habitat. The island setting enriches the story and comes alive through the art with many lovely water scenes. Panels are broken up with occasional text chats between friends, and the art makes use of varied perspectives and layouts to maintain visual interest. Story threads about conflicts with friends and family are believable but fairly surface level, and the romance is charming and tender. Morgan and Keltie’s mutual attraction is adorable, and their cute, happy kisses and cuddles are sure to elicit joy. Morgan’s name indicates Korean heritage; Keltie reads White.
Sweet, fun, Sapphic fluff. (Graphic fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-54058-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
The Phantom of the Opera served as inspiration, but this wouldn’t last on Broadway.
Stephanie and her family move into an old mansion rumored to have been put under a curse after a turn-of-the-20th-century rich boy meddled with an Egyptian mummy.
After her young sister complains about strange events, high school student Stephanie befriends Lucas, a geeky, good-looking boy, and meets the other members of SPOoKy, the Scientific Paranormal Organization of Kentucky: Charlotte, Wes, and Patrick. Stephanie learns the history of her new home from Lucas, who attracts her romantic attention, but the usually levelheaded girl is soon drawn to Erik, the handsome phantom who first comes to her in dreams. The story is told in chapters narrated by Stephanie, Lucas, and Zedok, whose identity is initially a source of confusion to Stephanie. Zedok appears wearing different masks, “personified slivers” of his soul, representing states of mind such as Wrath, Madness, and Valor. Meanwhile, until gifted singer Stephanie came along and he could write songs for her, Erik’s dreams were thwarted; he wanted to be a composer but his family expected him to become a doctor. In the gothic horror tradition, Erik’s full background and connection with Zedok are slowly revealed. Romantic dream sequences are lush and swoon-y, but the long, drawn-out battle to end the curse, aided by a celebrity clairvoyant, is tedious, and the constant introduction of Erik’s different personae is confusing. Most characters default to White; Patrick is Black.
The Phantom of the Opera served as inspiration, but this wouldn’t last on Broadway. (Horror. 13-16)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11604-3
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
Refreshing and moving: avoids easy answers and saviors from the outside.
From Sudan to Maine, in free verse.
It's 1999 in Juba, and the second Sudanese civil war is in full swing. Viola is a Bari girl, and she lives every day in fear of the government soldiers occupying her town. In brief free-verse chapters, Viola makes Juba real: the dusty soil, the memories of sweetened condensed milk, the afternoons Viola spends braiding her cousin's hair. But there is more to Juba than family and hunger; there are the soldiers, and the danger, and the horrifying interactions with soldiers that Viola doesn't describe but only lets the reader infer. As soon as possible, Viola's mother takes the family to Cairo and then to Portland, Maine—but they won't all make it. First one and then another family member is brought down by the devastating war and famine. After such a journey, the culture shock in Portland is unsurprisingly overwhelming. "Portland to New York: 234 miles, / New York to Cairo: 5,621 miles, / Cairo to Juba: 1,730 miles." Viola tries to become an American girl, with some help from her Sudanese friends, a nice American boy and the requisite excellent teacher. But her mother, like the rest of the Sudanese elders, wants to run her home as if she were back in Juba, and the inevitable conflict is heartbreaking.
Refreshing and moving: avoids easy answers and saviors from the outside. (historical note) (Fiction. 13-15)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7614-6267-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2012
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