Readers will no doubt clamor for the next book in this series; a thrilling start from an exciting new talent.
In Walker’s YA fantasy debut, a post-apocalyptic kingdom’s plans for magic center on the abilities of one untrained girl.
Seventeen-year-old Jessa Loxley has always dreamed of becoming a professional ballerina. All seems set for her dreams to become reality, but on the night of her solo debut in the New Colony’s Royal Ballet Company, everything changes. While performing on stage, Jessa inadvertently manipulates color—a process wherein color is drained from an object and used as powerful magic. In Jessa’s country, known only as the New Colony, children suspected of holding this power are taken from their families and trained as Guardians of Color in service of the crown. At 17, Jessa is far past the age when such talent is typically revealed, so she is accused of hiding it and is imprisoned. Yet Jessa is surprised by her newfound skills, and when the New Colony’s Prince Lucas convinces the king to let her be trained, Jessa is shocked to learn that the New Colony may be using color for nefarious purposes. Resistance is brewing, however, with Prince Lucas at the forefront. Jessa soon finds herself mired in a deadly conflict that could jeopardize the kingdom. Walker’s tale expertly blends action with exposition and futuristic technology with a Victorian vibe, and Prince Lucas, a playboy with a kind heart, and scrappy, determined Jessa make for a compelling team. Narration alternates between the two; since both are dynamic characters with distinct voices, this technique never becomes confusing. Walker also avoids the common pitfall of rehashing events from more than one perspective. The (quite literally) colorful landscape—animated by an intriguing cast—is complex but well-explained. Masterfully plotted, Walker builds to not one but several unexpected twists in the novel’s final pages.
Readers will no doubt clamor for the next book in this series; a thrilling start from an exciting new talent.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators.
Existing artwork from an artistic giant inspires a fairy-tale reimagination by a master of the horror genre.
In King’s interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story, which accompanies set and costume designs that the late Sendak created for a 1997 production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, siblings Hansel and Gretel survive abandonment in the woods and an evil witch’s plot to gobble them up before finding their “happily ever after” alongside their father. Prose with the reassuring cadence of an old-timey tale, paired with Sendak’s instantly recognizable artwork, will lull readers before capitalizing on these creators’ knack for injecting darkness into seemingly safe spaces. Gaping faces loom in crevices of rocks and trees, and a gloomy palette of muted greens and ocher amplify the story’s foreboding tone, while King never sugarcoats the peach-skinned children’s peril. Branches with “clutching fingers” hide “the awful enchanted house” of a “child-stealing witch,” all portrayed in an eclectic mix of spot and full-bleed images. Featuring insults that might strike some as harsh (“idiot,” “fool”), the lengthy, dense text may try young readers’ patience, and the often overwhelmingly ominous mood feels more pitched to adults—particularly those familiar with King and Sendak—but an introduction acknowledges grandparents as a likely audience, and nostalgia may prompt leniency over an occasional disconnect between words and art.
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780062644695
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
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