Maya, a budding artist, is still grieving her best friend’s death when her family moves to Oregon. From her new bedroom, she sketches the odd but intriguing residents of the Janus Apartments next door. One night a puzzling, fairylike creature strays into her room. Soon Maya discovers that two of the new neighbors, fellow seventh graders Benjamin and Gwenda, know something about it. Although they’re classroom pariahs, Maya befriends them and another school misfit, Travis, and the three come to her aid after she unwittingly agrees to incubate an extraterrestrial embryo. As Maya is drawn into a complicated conflict between mysterious powers, the embryo hatches. While her artistic gifts are useful, Maya’s specialness appears accidental, not preordained, making her a refreshing departure from “Chosen One” heroes. This series opener by a seasoned author takes off slowly, with clichéd plot setup and flat characterization, but adroit, multistranded storytelling saves the day. Once the alien happenings commence, the novel quickly gains altitude, achieving orbit somewhere between fantasy and science fiction, well positioned to explore the opportunities each presents. (Fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-670-06319-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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A smart sequel that’s filled with surprises and heart.
In this follow-up to The Rhythm of Time (2023), young time-traveling adventurers face their biggest challenge yet, forcing them to question themselves and one another.
Rahim looks forward to starting eighth grade with best friend Kasia even though he anticipates a tough transition after homeschooling. Kasia makes friends as seamlessly as she makes the cool beats that Rahim skillfully raps over. Although Rahim, who’s a target for bullies, feels a bit left behind, the duo still has their music and a rather unusual extracurricular: on-demand time-travel adventures at the behest of their future selves and the mysterious Aevum Organization. Rahim’s parents place a lot of pressure on him and dismiss his hip-hop dreams as impractical. Adult Rahim and Adult Kasia present the pair with a mission to 1978 Honolulu, where temporal anomalies have been detected. They’ll be facing Chrononauts, time travelers who are trying to change the world to suit their own selfish ends. This entry markedly raises the stakes in ways that challenge even Kasia’s genius. Rahim’s intuition and emotional development are thoughtfully plotted as the kids leave their parents in the dark and take big risks. This nuanced story centering on Black middle schoolers explores trust and care, putting friendship to the test even as the Hawaiian setting offers a provocative allegory for being thoughtful about our global (and interdimensional) impact. Final art not seen.
A smart sequel that’s filled with surprises and heart. (Science fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9780374393175
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
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