A fun, interactive read for lovers of the supernatural.
Will’s new town is filled with monsters, mythical creatures, and secrets, but hardly anyone believes him.
When his dad left, life was upended. Now Will and his mom are leaving New York City to move to Massachusetts, far from everything familiar. To his mom, East Emerson is a nice town where they can start fresh, but Will sees unearthly beings and wants to leave. When he’s magically transported to a cemetery and witnesses a terrifying ritual, a mystical fox chants a command to him: “find the animals, destroy the crown. Save the animals, and save the town.” At first Will thinks it was just a nightmare, but when the townspeople’s pets begin to disappear, he starts to suspect something evil is at play. He connects with his new neighbors, adopted siblings Ivy, an athletic girl who can also see monsters, and her genius brother, Linus, who are, respectively, Korean and Black. Together, Will (whose mom is Latina and father is implied White) and his new friends uncover the town’s spooky, mysterious history. This is a fast-paced, exciting first installment in a fantastical series filled with “monsters, myths, magic, and mad science.” Although there are scary parts, the monster narrator interrupts the story to address readers directly, introducing comedic relief. Readers can decipher codes and secret messages throughout the story, adding to the mystery and thrill. Themes of family, navigating change, poverty, listening to feelings, and finding courage are also present.
A fun, interactive read for lovers of the supernatural. (Paranormal. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-335-42487-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Affecting and hopeful.
A stray dog finds her destiny amid the chaos of a Southern California wildfire.
Wombat is a small dog with stubby legs and “silly ears / that look like furry cookies”—almost impossibly cute in Bricking’s occasional pencil-style vignettes. She’s mastered the art of survival, so when a mysterious internal voice prods her to go toward the fire, she resists. “The wrong way is the right way. / The right way is the wrong way,” the voice insists. When she tells fellow stray Silas about it, he tells Wombat she’s a “destiny dog,” bound to “find their person / before their person / can find them.” Convinced, she decides to follow the mysterious instructions. Meanwhile, Henry, a boy who’s leery of dogs, loves the bats at the wildlife rehabilitation center where Mama Ro, a veterinarian, works; his Mama J is a librarian. Henry and Barnabas, a fruit bat at the center, are both uprooted by the fire, and their paths converge with Wombat’s at an emergency shelter. The third-person perspective shifts from character to character in clusters of free-verse poems that fully immerse readers in each one’s experiences in turn. This extra-concentrated delivery of Applegate’s typically spare writing proves effective, balancing terror and sadness with heart and humor. Henry has light brown skin, Mama Ro has curly black hair and brown skin, and Mama J presents white.
Affecting and hopeful. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780063221178
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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