The belabored parental conflict, sugarcoated emotions and convenient plot details are cloying. The 12 recipes at the end are...
Can 10-year-old Poppy convince her parents she wants to be a baker and not a witch in yet another fantasy that blends magic and baking?
Poppy Pendle has inherited her magic from her Great-Granny Mabel, but her passion is baking. Her Dursley-like parents send her to the Ruthersfield Academy for young ladies with magic. She excels there, but she hates flying on her broomstick, using her wand and the teasing of the other girls. She runs away to the only place where she is happy, Patisserie Marie Claire, where she can create her own cookies and cakes. When this solution does not pan out, Poppy turns to the dark side of being a witch, hiding in a forsaken cottage and turning animals, her parents, police, birds and squirrels to stone. Her friend Charlie (a girl) and Marie Claire try various “sweet-tempting” plans to bring her back and finally succeed. Poppy and Marie Claire rehab the cottage and open a bakery. Numerous unexplained gaps in the fantasy logic crinkle the storyline, beginning with the “magic” of Poppy’s being born in the Patisserie (thus her passion) and ending with her turned-to-stone parents taking two years to thaw.
The belabored parental conflict, sugarcoated emotions and convenient plot details are cloying. The 12 recipes at the end are the best part; the rest is just half-baked. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4679-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wholesome, heartwarming series of exploits.
A young outcast finds new friends in a magical underground land in this middle-grade novel.
Jimmy Crikey is a little boy with blue eyes, bright red hair, pointy ears, and adult-sized feet. Jimmy lives with his Aunt Ethel and is happy at home. But at school, he is teased and bullied because of his appearance. In Part 1 of the book, Jimmy runs away in search of greater acceptance and falls down a hole into Roombelow, an underground world. Jimmy makes his first real friend when he rescues Gemma, a “little lady,” from the bottom of the town well. He is soon accepted by the townsfolk, who are quick to recognize his kindheartedness and selfless bravery. After a flurry of brief escapades, it is clear that Jimmy has found a new home. Part 2 is more measured and takes Jimmy and Gemma to Lithania, a nearby land of caverns and tunnels. Lithania is lit by precious crystals, the theft of which brings about a great adventure. In Part 3 of the book, Jimmy returns by spaceship to his birthplace—the planet Attalia, where all the men have red hair, pointed ears, and feet as big as Jimmy’s. In this last episode, can Jimmy help the peace-loving Attalians defend their world from Kursh, the militant leader of the nearby planet Ock? Jimmy’s adventures call to mind Enid Blyton’s classic Noddy stories or, more recently, the Tashi books of Anna Fienberg. Jimmy and his friends are models of good behavior and succeed due to their positive qualities. For the most part, the perils they find themselves in are those of circumstance and misunderstanding (rather than villainy). The danger is therefore safe for young readers. Briggs writes in a straightforward manner but with a vocabulary stretching to the upper reaches of the target age group. The pacing of the three sections changes from fast to slow to medium, but the characters are lovable, upbeat, and ever bonhomous. Occasional full-page pencil images by debut illustrator Sledzikowska bring them further to life. Budding bookworms will find plenty to chew on.
A wholesome, heartwarming series of exploits.Pub Date: June 11, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 302
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A lively, inventive romp with plenty of spirit!
In Dean’s middle-grade debut, a boy must adjust to life as a ghost and de-haunt the family that’s moved into his house.
12-year-old Evan Cameron and his dad have just moved to Bainbridge, California. Evan likes books and baseball. He’s excited about their new house but sad to leave his friends behind. What will his life be like? Unfortunately for Evan, the answer is: short! The day after they move in, Evan, his dad, and their dog, Buzzby, wake to find all their possessions gone. Nobody can see or touch them. They have died in their sleep—carbon monoxide poisoning from the old boiler. They are ghosts! On top of this shock, Evan is horrified to find a new family moving into their now-empty house. There’s Mrs. Fraidy, a single mom; her young daughter, Lily; and Elliot, a boy Evan’s age. Evan plans to haunt them—to scare them into leaving—but it turns out the house is already haunted! A pair of burning red eyes appears to Elliot, terrifying him as well as Evan and his dad. Judging this ghost to be the real intruder, Evan decides to help Elliot and his family. He follows Elliot to school and, while saving him from bullies, manages to forge a mental connection. Elliot can now see him! Evan has always wanted a brother, but will he be able to protect his adopted “fleshies” from the malevolent ghost that torments them? Dean writes in the first person and imbues Evan and his dad with distinct (and in the latter case, quite eccentric) personalities. The writing is clear and personable, narrated conversationally, and the tale moves quickly, deploying some nice inversions on the usual genre expectations. Dean’s dialogue is perhaps a relative weak point—at times it’s overly frenetic; plus, Lily seems very articulate for her age—but these are minor qualms and not really at odds with the book’s overall tone of excitability. Young readers should devour this cover to cover, reveling in the action while soaking up Dean’s underlying message of family and friendship.
A lively, inventive romp with plenty of spirit!Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2020
ISBN: 979-8-66-271773-2
Page Count: 159
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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