Entertaining archaeological adventures unfortunately find humor in pettiness and snark. Twelve-year-old twins John and Philippa share a vision in the dentist’s office in which mysterious Uncle Nimrod encourages the children to visit. At his direction, they blackmail their parents into sending them to England, where they learn they are half-djinn. Soon they are embroiled in a race against the wicked Iblis, in a competition to turn the balance of mystical power in the world to good or evil. With the help of a djinn with an Irish brogue, a human butler with an almost intriguing past, a stereotyped Egyptian chauffeur, and a bit of cleverness, the children save the world for the forces of good while coming into their birthright. Puns abound, but too many are knowing winks to adult readers, and many others rely on snide little cruelties at the expense of secondary characters or entire nations. Funny and clever, but weakened by cheap shots. (Fantasy. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-439-67019-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amanda K. Woods, 12, is a girl to like’she just doesn’t know it yet. She’s quirky, serious, impulsive, imaginative, perceptive, smart, and now, sharp, thanks to the addition of the K that stands like a sword flashing confidently in the middle of her name. In an opening scene, Amanda says good-bye to Lyle Leveridge, former neighbor and friend who leaves behind, at her suggestion, the legacy of his right hand, which she “exchanges” with her own in a tingling, did-it-really-happen episode. That hand seems to give her special powers when it comes to baking muffins to her mother’s specifications, writing letters to a French pen pal, seeking the advice of a yogi, and more, in Rome, Wisconsin, circa 1950. Casting aside her mother’s meticulous criterion, older sister Margaret’s Dale Carnegie—inspired thoughts, and the dubious punditry of women’s magazines, Amanda learns to see through her own eyes, speak “her own real thoughts.” Cameron (More Stories Huey Tells, 1997, etc.) avoids grand revelations in favor of singular insights that affirm girlhood without self-consciousness. As Amanda moves from alone to alive, she becomes strong, but not impossibly so, realizing that her special powers are those inside her, not borrowed from the Lone Ranger or a boy’s hand. Amanda is the story, and she’s as funny as she is wise. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 21, 1998
ISBN: 0-374-36702-7
Page Count: 201
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1998
The healing of a wounded child is at the center of this story, whose color and energy come primarily from the Hawaiian setting. Maile lives with her grandmother, Tutu Lady. Her mother, honored by a photograph in a local hotel, was a Hawaiian dancer who died saving others from a tidal wave. Her father has gone to the mainland to work (and to remarry), and her brother is in the Army. Maile, feeling alone and cut off, has two years of her father’s letters to her, unopened. Tutu Lady has suggested the ho’oponopono—the forgiveness that begins healing—but Maile will not speak of her father or her mother. The arrival of Brooke, a girl about Maile’s age who is recovering from cancer, begins to melt Maile’s resolve; she decides to search out a kahuna—healer—for Brooke. Descriptions of the islands’ lushness, a smattering of Hawaiian and pidgin, casual accounts of the making of poi and the capture of a pet pig, and the role of the mangoes of the title create a pretty ambiance, one that may carry readers through even when the story proves pat and predictable: Maile goes from a state of withdrawn misery to one of open forgiveness in a series of easy steps. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-380-97613-7
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1998
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