Pullman in any mood is worth catching, though this is about as slight as he gets.
In an episode set shortly after the end of The Amber Spyglass (2000), Pullman sends Lyra Silvertongue back to the town of Trollesund for an illuminating chat.
Originally written for a charity fundraiser in 2004 and dusted off at last for general release, the brief tale is extended by a surfeit of somber black-and-white prints that, with help from wide line leading and spacious margins, bring the compact volume’s page count to a respectable level. The quickly told story feels tucked in amid views of remote figures and empty streets, mingling with straight filler and pictures of sinuous daemons and people with distant expressions posed in various static configurations. It’s built around a conversation between Lyra and the enigmatic Dr. Lanselius, consul for the witch clans, in which Lyra wrestles with how the knowledge that she and Pan can separate and have experiences of their own may come to change their relationship. As the author points out in his afterword, just such a profound change plays a prominent role in The Secret Commonwealth (2019)…and so Lyra’s troubled reach for understanding here prefigured it. If this catches Pullman in a ruminative mood, unlike the earlier spinoff Once Upon a Time in the North (2008), illustrated by John Lawrence, which is an action-oriented minimasterpiece, still there are references aplenty to past events and lively interchanges between Pan and Lyra to keep less-introspective fans from flagging.
Pullman in any mood is worth catching, though this is about as slight as he gets. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-37768-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2020
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
During a school year in which a gifted teacher who emphasizes personal responsibility among his fifth graders ends up in a coma from a thrown snowball, his students come to terms with their own issues and learn to be forgiving. Told in short chapters organized month-by-month in the voices of seven students, often describing the same incident from different viewpoints, this weaves together a variety of not-uncommon classroom characters and situations: the new kid, the trickster, the social bully, the super-bright and the disaffected; family clashes, divorce and death; an unwed mother whose long-ago actions haven't been forgotten in the small-town setting; class and experiential differences. Mr. Terupt engineers regular visits to the school’s special-needs classroom, changing some lives on both sides. A "Dollar Word" activity so appeals to Luke that he sprinkles them throughout his narrative all year. Danielle includes her regular prayers, and Anna never stops her hopeful matchmaking. No one is perfect in this feel-good story, but everyone benefits, including sentimentally inclined readers. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-385-73882-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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