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 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
A rousing and wholesome sequel.
The fearless apprentices are back with more adventures as they try and prove themselves as heroes.
Moxie Battleborne has become stronger, wielding her weapon like a proper Level 2 hero; Pan Silversnow, particular as ever, has increased her abilities—but Fart is still working on beginners’ skills. It’s been one month since they’ve been on their own after their masters were killed by goblins, and Fart yearns to be further along, mastering the most difficult spells. Now that the three have more experience under their belts, the Great and Powerful Kevin sends our favorite phibling assistant, TickTock, to retrieve the heroic trio for his next perilous quest. Kevin needs the barf of a bedazzler, a rare and potentially deadly creature. The trio sets off to the city of Wetwater in search of Diremaw the Dread, a menacing pirate captain who supposedly knows the whereabouts of a bedazzler. Along the way, they are kidnapped by muck elves, made to defeat the muck man SquishRabble, and robbed by a mischievous crew. Through it all, the friends stick together, overcoming assumptions about themselves and one another. Simple, humorous text and compelling action sequences from start to finish make this a fun, accessible read. Black-and-white illustrations convey helpful information in an amusing and succinct manner, often extending the meaning of the text. Pan is cued as Asian; Moxie appears White; Fart reads as Black.
A rousing and wholesome sequel. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-20638-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
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