by P.J. Haarsma ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2009
JT’s journey through the unpleasant Rings of Orbis finally starts to come together into a coherent narrative (Betrayal on Orbis 2, 2008, etc.). JT and his shipmates, all children indentured to a series of vile aliens, seem finally to have hit upon some luck. Their new master is Charlie, a recently wealthy human who insists on sending them to school instead of to work. While it may not be work in the factories or mines, however, school is hardly pleasant; the self-satisfied children of Citizens make sure JT and his friends are miserable. Fighting for his place in school, JT is drawn into Wor’an’ain, the deadly game of strategy which provides a pecking order among the Citizens and gives structure and tension to this novel. JT’s participation in the game reveals more about his own powers and the interstellar intrigue surrounding him that he’d ever expected. This series entry wisely focuses on JT, the game and JT’s mysterious back story, spending little time on thinly developed B-plots and secondary characters. A pulpy (if disorganized) reward for those who have made it this far. (Science fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7636-2711-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2009
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by P.J. Haarsma
by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Dapo Adeola ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2019
This can’t be the last we ever hear of the Legendary Alston Boys of the purely surreal Logan County—imaginative,...
Can this really be the first time readers meet the Legendary Alston Boys of Logan County? Cousins and veteran sleuths Otto and Sheed Alston show us that we are the ones who are late to their greatness.
These two black boys are coming to terms with the end of their brave, heroic summer at Grandma’s, with a return to school just right around the corner. They’ve already got two keys to the city, but the rival Epic Ellisons—twin sisters Wiki and Leen—are steadily gaining celebrity across Logan County, Virginia, and have in hand their third key to the city. No way summer can end like this! These young people are powerful, courageous, experienced adventurers molded through their heroic commitment to discipline and deduction. They’ve got their shared, lifesaving maneuvers committed to memory (printed in a helpful appendix) and ready to save any day. Save the day they must, as a mysterious, bendy gentleman and an oversized, clingy platypus have been unleashed on the city of Fry, and all the residents and their belongings seem to be frozen in time and place. Will they be able to solve this one? With total mastery, Giles creates in Logan County an exuberant vortex of weirdness, where the commonplace sits cheek by jowl with the utterly fantastic, and populates it with memorable characters who more than live up to their setting.
This can’t be the last we ever hear of the Legendary Alston Boys of the purely surreal Logan County—imaginative, thrill-seeking readers, this is a series to look out for. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-46083-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Versify/HMH
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
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by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Derick Brooks
by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Dapo Adeola
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by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Paris Alleyne with N. Steven Harris ; color by Bex Glendining
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by Lamar Giles ; illustrated by Morgan Bissant
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by Lamar Giles
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by Shannon Messenger ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 2, 2012
Wholesome shading to bland, but well-stocked with exotic creatures and locales, plus an agreeable cast headed by a child...
A San Diego preteen learns that she’s an elf, with a place in magic school if she moves to the elves’ hidden realm.
Having felt like an outsider since a knock on the head at age 5 left her able to read minds, Sophie is thrilled when hunky teen stranger Fitz convinces her that she’s not human at all and transports her to the land of Lumenaria, where the ageless elves live. Taken in by a loving couple who run a sanctuary for extinct and mythical animals, Sophie quickly gathers friends and rivals at Foxfire, a distinctly Hogwarts-style school. She also uncovers both clues to her mysterious origins and hints that a rash of strangely hard-to-quench wildfires back on Earth are signs of some dark scheme at work. Though Messenger introduces several characters with inner conflicts and ambiguous agendas, Sophie herself is more simply drawn as a smart, radiant newcomer who unwillingly becomes the center of attention while developing what turn out to be uncommonly powerful magical abilities—reminiscent of the younger Harry Potter, though lacking that streak of mischievousness that rescues Harry from seeming a little too perfect. The author puts her through a kidnapping and several close brushes with death before leaving her poised, amid hints of a higher destiny and still-anonymous enemies, for sequels.
Wholesome shading to bland, but well-stocked with exotic creatures and locales, plus an agreeable cast headed by a child who, while overly fond of screaming, rises to every challenge. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4593-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
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