A sweet choice for readers who prefer their fantasy thoughtful instead of action-packed.
For years, Cat Campbell has dreamed of having magical powers like her great-great-grandmother Mabel and attending Ruthersfield Academy, “the only accredited school for magic in the country.”
Yet her mother, beloved town baker Poppy Pendle, the now-grown heroine of The Power of Poppy Pendle (2012), is adamant that magic is a terrible gift, refusing to even speak about her magical girlhood. When Cat comes across her mother’s old wand, however, she is able to use it to change a hairy spider into a colorful ball—she is magical after all! Now she just has to convince her mother to allow her to attend Ruthersfield. While learning to control her new abilities, Cat must live out the motto of her favorite book, The Late Bloomer’s Guide to Magic: “Nem zentar topello” means “Don’t let fear stand in your way.” Cat easily conquers her fear of spiders and finds the courage to face the wickedest witch ever to escape from Scrubs Prison. But her biggest challenge? How to follow her passion for magic against her mother’s wishes. Lowe’s simple plot of parent-child conflict unfolds in a now-familiar wizarding world, tension arising more from emotions than external thrills, despite that wicked witch. The appended recipes include incantations and substitutions if readers are unable to find pixie laughs or unicorn milk at the local grocery.
A sweet choice for readers who prefer their fantasy thoughtful instead of action-packed. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-1870-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Debut author Day (Upper Skagit) handles family separation in Native America with insight and grace.
A Suquamish/Duwamish girl uncovers her tragic family history in this contemporary tale of adoption.
Edie’s idyllic life in a Seattle neighborhood is upended when she realizes her parents have been telling lies. Biracial 12-year-old Edie has always known her mother was Native American but adopted into a white family. Due to this, her mother has claimed to be ignorant about her birth family and tribe. (Edie’s father is white.) While the ambiguities of Edie’s family history make her uncomfortable, she accepts the story until the day she searches the attic while working on a film project with her two best friends. They discover a box there with photos of a woman who looks exactly like Edie. Opening letters in the box, the friends realize the woman shares Edie’s name. Even as preteen tensions begin to pull her friend group apart, young Edie struggles as she seeks to discover the truth about her past without asking her parents directly. Preteen anxiety gives way to daunting maturity as she learns about the misrepresentation of Native Americans in film, the activism of the American Indian Movement, and the reason her parents decided to keep her family connections a secret for so long. The novel is enlightening and a must-read for anyone interested in issues surrounding identity and adoption.
Debut author Day (Upper Skagit) handles family separation in Native America with insight and grace. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-287199-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
File under “laugh riot.”
A rogue spell-check program’s bid to transform all life-forms into that eminently useful office item, the paper clip, touches off a fresh round of lunar lunacy.
Predicated on the entirely reasonable premise that eliminating all spelling and grammar errors everywhere would logically lead to the necessity of exterminating carbon-based life in the universe, this third series entry combines high stakes with daffy banter and daring exploits. CheckMate—a chipper, jumped-up editing program—has invented the Transmogratron, a giant laser that will fulfill its ultimate goals in both the cyber world and “meatspace.” Facing challenges as random as prankster lunar unicorns and a disarmingly motherly Motherboard, scowling First Cat joins a motley crew of diversely carbon- and silicon-based allies, led by the pearlescent Queen of the Moon. They’re in a race to the finish—diverted occasionally by, for instance, a relentlessly punny comic-book interlude featuring a pair of literal and figurative Pool Sharks. They ultimately triumph thanks to teamwork and moxie. Following a celebratory party and toasts to “new friends…and steadfast comrades” (and, of course, “MEOW”), the story’s energetic, brightly colored panels close with a reveal of the next volume. (“I always hate it when comics end by announcing a sequel. SO CRINGE!” declares an authorial stand-in.) It can’t come too soon.
File under “laugh riot.” (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063315280
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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