This compelling magical adventure rises above its many flaws. Fifteen-year-old Tommo is an escaped spellgrinder’s apprentice, and like all boys of his profession, he is dying. Ground spellstone dust has given his skin an eerie blue glow, and has afflicted him with the quivers, a degenerative illness that will soon lead to an unpleasant death. Nevertheless, he’s determined to end his days in freedom. On the run from the hangman, he falls in with Akenna, a foul-mouthed fisher girl fleeing her abusive father. All the teens want is sanctuary, but they won’t be able to find safety unless they rescue their nation from the cruel usurper of the throne. For some reason, he thinks Tommo and Akenna are a danger to him. The complexities of world-building are too extensive for this brief tale and require an excess of exposition, but are nevertheless cleverly original. Inexpert prose and a rushed conclusion detract, but overall, Tommo’s story is both intriguing and worthwhile. (Fantasy. 12-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 1-58234-780-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2007
Marguerite Henry died barely two years ago, after living the life of which most writers dream: She wrote from the time she was young, her parents encouraged her, she published early and often, and her books were honored and loved in her lifetime. Her hobby, she said, was words, but it was also her life and livelihood. Her research skills were honed by working in her local library, doing book repair. Her husband Sidney supported and encouraged her work, and they traveled widely as she carefully researched the horses on Chincoteague and the burros in the Grand Canyon. She worked in great harmony with her usual illustrator, Wesley Dennis, and was writing up until she died. Collins is a bit overwrought in his prose, but Henry comes across as strong and engaging as she must have been in person. Researchers will be delighted to find her Newbery acceptance speech included in its entirety. (b&w photos, bibliography, index) (Biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 10, 1999
ISBN: 1-883846-39-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Voigt’s fourth adventure set in the alternate reality world of Jackaroo (1985) is a stately-paced study of courage and loyalty shared, mostly, between women. Condemned to a ritual rape and murder by the brutal raiders known as Wolfers, Elske escapes untouched to the mercantile port of Trastad, where she meets prickly, imperious Beriel, an occasional visitor who claims to be a princess from an unknown land. Responding deeply to Beriel’s inner fire, Elske becomes her steadfast servant, finding a home for her secretly-borne child, following her on the long, dangerous journey back to her kingdom, and, while she is away battling her treacherous brother for the throne, cleverly driving off an invading company of Wolfers without bloodshed. Aside from one assault, the violence is off stage, and Voigt keeps the focus on her two main characters: she traces Elske’s growth from almost amoral innocence to strong-minded, loving maturity, and presents Beriel as a figure made larger-than-life by her anger and surety, demanding utter loyalty from her followers, but able to return it in kind. Fans of thud-and-blunder epics should look elsewhere; for readers who enjoy probing studies of ties that bind, this will illuminate some hidden corners of the human spirit. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-82472-6
Page Count: 245
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
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