Colorful characters headline this imaginative, witty tale.
A young girl befriends Danish elves and a charming snowy owl in this middle-grade fantasy debut and series opener.
Ten-year-old Anne Katrine loses one of her favorite people—her grandmother. Her parents settle the late woman’s estate in Denmark and leave their daughter in Pennsylvania for what was meant to be a temporary stay but becomes indefinite. Now she’s stuck with cruel relatives, like spiteful Aunt Jess and bullying cousin Neena. But things aren’t all bad. In the surrounding woods, Anne Katrine meets a couple of affable men—each no more than 5 inches tall. Yul and Nissa are Danish elves who offer her magic seeds so she can be elf-sized, too (or return to her regular size when necessary). They need her help retrieving Yul’s laptop, which Neena swiped, thinking the tiny object was a bracelet charm that Anne Katrine stole. Meanwhile, the elves hitch rides from warmhearted snowy owl Dumbert and sneak into Anne Katrine’s attic bedroom for late-night visits. Yul and Nissa make Pennsylvania life so much better; unfortunately, they plan to travel to a faraway land to restock their magic seeds, and Anne Katrine, who misses her parents, will be lonely once again. Newman’s delightful story is reminiscent of “Snow White” and “Cinderella.” The appealing young hero radiates tenderness and perseveres despite horrid treatment, especially from Aunt Jess, who, it seems, hates her niece. Nissa stands out among the vibrant characters; he has an extensive vocabulary and likes a good pun (“Owl be right back”). Newman wisely keeps the plot uncomplicated, though there’s a lot left unresolved. The author has a series in the works and ends this book with the promise of even greater adventures awaiting Anne Katrine. Gadotti’s black-and-white sketches enliven the pages, from Anne Katrine’s bandaging Dumbert’s wound to the Pennsylvania woods.
Colorful characters headline this imaginative, witty tale.Pub Date: June 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73629-460-4
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Apex Collaborative, LLC
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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