This delightful, compact tale mingles the natural world and a hint of magic.
Youngsters scour the globe for precious stones to prevent the worst of all dinosaurs from hatching in this middle-grade fantasy sequel.
Eight months after Sam’s adventure in the fascinating subterranean Under-Under World, she happily reunites with its leader, the Great Hildinski. It turns out she’s met and inadvertently revealed secrets to the Great Hildinski’s diabolical twin sister. Sam, certain she’s put Under-Under at risk, gets dangerously close to The Sister and learns this woman has her hands on four giant eggs of the Slashasaurus. As that’s definitely not a benevolent dinosaur species, the only apparent defense is freezing the eggs before they hatch. But to do that, Sam, her friend, her little brother, and Gemini the cat must find six rubies on six different continents, starting on Sam’s North America. Thanks to physics-defying tunnels and a magic compass, the kids can knock this out in a matter of hours. But that still might not be enough time to stop the “spectacularly evil plan” that The Sister has cooking with the soon-to-hatch Slashasauri. Along with the excitement below, absorbing drama unfolds aboveground in Whatever’s second series installment. For example, an accident left Sam’s beloved guardian, Aunt C, in a coma, while a jeweler accuses Sam of stealing Aunt C’s pearls, which the girl tries to sell to feed herself and her brother. Although this novel shows little of the Under-Under World realm, the trade-off is a superb journey around the world; Sam and others trek a vast desert, explore a sunken ship, and bask in the sights and fragrances of a city’s open-air spice market and festive garlands. Gemini once again enchants; she seems an ordinary feline but somehow knows where everyone needs to go. As in the earlier novel, the author’s simple, vibrant artwork enhances this story, from the characters to the places they roam.
This delightful, compact tale mingles the natural world and a hint of magic.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2022
ISBN: 979-8408735044
Page Count: 259
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
An enthralling fantasy debut exploring exploitation by those in power.
Will 12-year-old Nura be able to outsmart the trickster jinn and save herself and her friends?
Nura lives in the fictional Pakistani town of Meerabagh, where she has worked mining mica to help support her family of five—her mother, herself, and her three younger siblings—since her father’s death. In the mines she has the company of her best friend, Faisal, who is teased by other kids for his stutter, and she enjoys small pleasures like splurging on gulab jamun. Although Maa wants Nura to stop working and attend school, she has no interest in classroom learning and hopes to save up to send her younger siblings to school instead so they can break the family’s cycle of poverty. Following a mining accident in which Faisal and others are lost in the rubble, Nura goes to the rescue. In her quest, she is plunged into the magical, glittering jinn realm, where nothing is as it seems. The author seamlessly weaves into the worldbuilding of the story commentary on real-life problems such as the ravages of child labor and systems that perpetuate inequities. An informative author’s note further explores present-day global cycles of oppression as well as the life-changing power of education. This action-packed story set in a Muslim community moves at a fast pace, with evocative writing that brings the fantasy world to life and lyrical imagery to describe emotions.
An enthralling fantasy debut exploring exploitation by those in power. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5795-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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