A young boy discovers his special powers when he accidentally stumbles into a magical realm on the brink of war—a war he must help resolve.
When Elliott moves to New Orleans to live with his grandfather, his greatest concerns are his sickly mother and fending off the neighborhood bullies who make fun of the strange markings on his hands, deformities he has had since birth. It isn’t until his grandfather encourages him to check out his new basement that Elliott realizes there’s more to his appearance than meets the eye; he is transported to a fantastical world and picked up by two creatures called gimlets who recognize the markings and a bracelet Elliott wears as signifiers that he is a shamalan. The pair takes him to the council at the castle Harwelden and the chancellors throw Elliott in a room filled with water where he discovers that he can breathe underwater and his hands and feet become webbed, proving his identity as a shamalan. Meanwhile, across the land, the only other known living shamalan, Princess Sarintha, has been taken prisoner by enemy forces consisting largely of the race of serpans, who are waging war against the other races of the land. Elliott and his gimlet friends rescue a susquat beast named Hooks from the castle dungeon when Hooks promises to lead them to another shamalan hiding in the woods. But as they search, a serpan named Slipher, who has come across some special tracking magic and is desperate to prove himself to his commander by killing Elliott, hunts them. This is a bildungsroman and quest tale in the tradition of epic high fantasy, and fans of the genre will enjoy the extensive world building and imaginative magical feats. The characters are well-developed, some with poignant back stories and others whose true intentions aren’t revealed until the very end. Though the novel is lengthy, there is never a dull moment, as the characters’ actions drive the plot at a steady pace all the way to the ultimate battle. More than 70 pen-and-ink illustrations by Geof Isherwood, evocative of a Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual, add an extra dimension to Smith’s vivid descriptions. Pleasing for readers looking to escape into an expansive world of magic, conflict and racing action.
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0615460475
Page Count: 615
Publisher: Medlock
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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A delightfully captivating swatch of autobiography from the author of Kiss. Kiss, Switch Bitch and many others. Schoolboy Dahl wanted adventure. Classes bored him, there was work to be had in Africa, and war clouds loomed on the world's horizons. He finds himself with a trainee's job with Shell Oil of East Africa and winds up in what is now Tanzania. Then war comes in 1939 and Dahl's adventures truly begin. At the war's outbreak, Dahl volunteers for the RAF, signing on to be a fighter pilot. Wounded in the Libyan desert, he spends six months recuperating in a military hospital, then rejoins his unit in Greece, only to be driven back by the advancing Germans. On April 20, 1941, he goes head on against the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Athens. On-target bio installment with, one hopes, lots more of this engrossing life to come.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0142413836
Page Count: 209
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1986
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In O’Gorman’s YA debut, two best friends try to fool people into thinking that they’re in love—and then discover a new facet of their relationship.
Sally Spitz is a frizzy-haired 17-year-old girl with a charming zeal for three things: Harry Potter (she’s a Gryffindor), Star Wars, and getting into Duke University. During her senior year of high school, she goes on a slew of miserable dates, set up by her mother and her own second-best–friend–turned-matchmaker, Lillian Hooker. Sally refuses to admit to anyone that she’s actually head over Converses in love with her longtime best friend, a boy named Baldwin Eugene Charles Kent, aka “Becks.” After a particularly awkward date, Sally devises a plan to end Lillian’s matchmaking attempts; specifically, she plans to hire someone to act as her fake boyfriend, or “F.B.F.” But before Sally can put her plan into action, a rumor circulates that Sally and Becks are already dating. Becks agrees to act as Sally’s F.B.F. in exchange for a box of Goobers and Sally’s doing his calculus homework for a month. Later, as they hold hands in the hall and “practice” make-out sessions in Becks’ bedroom, their friendship heads into unfamiliar territory. Over the course of this novel, O’Gorman presents an inviting and enjoyable account of lifelong friendship transforming into young love. Though the author’s reliance on familiar tropes may be comforting to a casual reader, it may frustrate those who may be looking for a more substantial and less predictable plot. A number of ancillary characters lack very much complexity, and the story, overall, would have benefited from an added twist or two. Even so, however, this remains a largely engaging and often endearing debut.
A familiar but heartfelt romance for easygoing readers.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-759-7
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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