A strong, suspenseful read about navigating friendship that includes a touch of the extraterrestrial.
A suspenseful epistolary novel about two new friends who find some extraordinary rocks.
On the last day of their miserable stay at Camp Dilloway, two young campers escape Campfire Night and connect after they find two unusual glowing rocks. Tripti Kapoor, an 11-year-old Indian American girl from Massachusetts, and Sam Cohen, a sixth grade Jewish boy from California, take the rocks home, and their long-distance friendship begins. They call the rocks Opal and Jasper, names taken from their favorite book series, Dragon Gems. Soon, Tripti and Sam notice unusual things about their rocks—they move around, become warm, and even leave coded messages. Communication between the two kids occurs through handwritten letters, emails, video chats, and instant messages. Mixed in are excerpts from the Dragon Gems books, MeTube video transcripts, and journal entries by Sanford P. Dilloway III, an eccentric scientist and the camp’s owner. The multiple channels of communication feel current and effectively propel the action, and the scientific information about comets and geology is engaging. As the rocks become more sentient, things become more urgent and dangerous. Themes of estrangement and forgiveness quietly run alongside the excitement of the mystery surrounding Opal and Jasper. Tripti and Sam’s friendship authentically traverses the tough and tender waters of middle school, and their friendship proves to be powerful.
A strong, suspenseful read about navigating friendship that includes a touch of the extraterrestrial. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781499814637
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Yellow Jacket
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
Plays to Rowling’s fan base; equally suited for gifting and reading aloud or alone.
A 7-year-old descends into the Land of the Lost in search of his beloved comfort object.
Jack has loved Dur Pig long enough to wear the beanbag toy into tattered shapelessness—which is why, when his angry older stepsister chucks it out the car window on Christmas Eve, he not only throws a titanic tantrum and viciously rejects the titular replacement pig, but resolves to sneak out to find DP. To his amazement, the Christmas Pig offers to guide him to the place where all lost Things go. Whiffs of childhood classics, assembled with admirable professionalism into a jolly adventure story that plays all the right chords, hang about this tale of loss and love. Along with family drama, Rowling stirs in fantasy, allegory, and generous measures of social and political commentary. Pursued by the Land’s cruel and monstrous Loser, Jack and the Christmas Pig pass through territories from the Wastes of the Unlamented, where booger-throwing Bad Habits roam, to the luxurious City of the Missed for encounters with Hope, Happiness, and Power (a choleric king who rejects a vote that doesn’t go his way). A joyful reunion on the Island of the Beloved turns poignant, but Christmas Eve being “a night for miracles and lost causes,” perhaps there’s still a chance (with a little help from Santa) for everything to come right? In both the narrative and Field’s accomplished, soft-focus illustrations, the cast presents White.
Plays to Rowling’s fan base; equally suited for gifting and reading aloud or alone. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-79023-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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