Emily and Jackson try to escape the baddies in this never-too-serious comedy-drama.
Back in the 19th century, Emily and her friend Jackson live happily with Aunt Hilda on her farm somewhere in the West. However, dangers from the previous book (Emily's Fortune, 2010) still lurk, and amid play, pranks and chores, readers know that danger will return. The $10 million Emily has inherited doesn’t affect their lives much because they’re already happy, but it sure attracts bad guys! The two orphans still must escape the dastardly child catchers who want to take Jackson to work in a mill. Then someone suspicious shows up when Aunt Hilda goes away to town, and the two friends find themselves kidnapped. Oh no! How will clever Jackson, not to mention their intrepid dog, Spook, find a way to escape and save Emily? As before, Naylor stuffs her short chapters with fun, ending each with an alliterative phrase, always in huge typeface that takes up half the page, such as “And what in gigglin’ goblins do you think they saw?” It’s a wonderful device to keep children laughing and reading. The suspense is never too threatening and always has a bit of humor involved, yet it's still scary enough to keep readers turning pages. The author makes the resolution delightful and easy, while Emily and Jackson keep readers smiling. The whimsical line drawings by Collins greatly add to the sweet atmosphere.
Spunky! (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-74097-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s a monster in Sidwell, Massachusetts, that can only be seen at night or, as Twig reveals, if passersby are near her house.
It’s her older brother, James, born with wings just like every male in the Fowler line for the last 200 years. They were cursed by the Witch of Sidwell, left brokenhearted by their forebear Lowell Fowler. Twig and James are tired of the secret and self-imposed isolation. Lonely Twig narrates, bringing the small town and its characters to life, intertwining events present and past, and describing the effects of the spell on her fractured family’s daily life. Longing for some normalcy and companionship, she befriends new-neighbor Julia while James falls in love with Julia’s sister, Agate—only to learn they are descendants of the Witch. James and Agate seem as star-crossed as their ancestors, especially when the townspeople attribute a spate of petty thefts and graffiti protesting the development of the woods to the monster and launch a hunt. The mix of romance and magic is irresistible and the tension, compelling. With the help of friends and through a series of self-realizations and discoveries, Twig grows more self-assured. She is certain she knows how to change the curse. In so doing, Twig not only changes James’ fate, but her own, for the first time feeling the fullness of family, friends and hope for the future.
Enchanting. (Magical realism. 9-12)Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-38958-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
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The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.
Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 1989
ISBN: 0547577095
Page Count: 156
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION
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