A rich, compelling tale that deftly explores bleak themes for young readers.
A tween comes to grips with the darkness in himself and others.
In this harsh but heartfelt middle-grade novel, it seems as if nothing can go right for 12-year-old Sam Nolen and his family. Their rural Australian sheep farm is suffering after six years of drought; money is tight; and Sam’s older brother Ben’s moodiness has progressed to outright anger. Later, there is news of a neighbor’s suicide; Sam loses his arm helping out on another farm; his father hijacks a water truck; and Ben dies under confusing circumstances. As Sam struggles to make sense of the problems in his family and community, adjust to the loss of a limb, and understand his own emotions, he decides that people have a “Monster” within them, shaping their behavior for good and ill. He sets out to understand the rules concerning these Monsters, including “Most people don’t know they exist.” Despite its Grapes of Wrath–esque grimness—the story includes a variety of tragedies, intentional and unintentional deaths, and maimings; and if things can get worse for Sam’s family, they nearly always will—the book is utterly engaging and rewarding. It is suitably funny at times, with Sam’s perfect blend of earnestness and cynicism bringing the narrative voice to life. There is an element of mystery, as Sam uncovers what happened to Ben, that fits seamlessly into the coming-of-age plot. The ending is redemptive, and Sam draws conclusions about human behavior from his study of Monsters, but it never feels forced, moralizing, or inauthentic. A strong cast of secondary characters—especially Cliff, a biker gang leader who becomes Sam’s mentor in amputee life—adds to the book’s layers. Readers who are unfamiliar with Australian life will have little trouble making sense of the story’s regionalisms, and a wealth of details, like the hierarchy of uses and reuses for the limited supply of water, makes the setting feel both desperate and real. Rostirolla balances evoking readers’ sympathies with avoiding maudlin emotions, successfully turning a novel about stark and painful topics into an enjoyable read.
A rich, compelling tale that deftly explores bleak themes for young readers.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9780999189177
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Pinkus Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best.
Friendly curiosity and a gift for naming earn a polar bear an assortment of (mostly animal) friends, adventures, mishaps, and discoveries.
Arriving at a northern ocean, Duane spies a shipwreck. Swimming out to investigate, he meets its lone occupant, C.C., a learned snowy owl whose noble goal is acquiring knowledge to apply “toward the benefit of all.” Informing Duane that he’s a polar bear, she points out a nearby cave that might suit him—it even has a mattress. Adding furnishings from the wreck—the grandfather clock’s handless, but who needs to tell time when it’s always now?—he meets a self-involved musk ox, entranced by his own reflection, who’s delighted when Duane names him “Handsome.” As he comes to understand, then appreciate their considerable diversity, Duane brings out the best in his new friends. C.C., who has difficulty reading emotions and dislikes being touched, evokes the autism spectrum. Magic, a bouncy, impulsive arctic fox, manifests ADHD. Major Puff, whose proud puffin ancestry involves courageous retreats from danger, finds a perfect companion in Twitch, a risk-aware, common-sensical hare. As illustrated, Sun Girl, a human child, appears vaguely Native, and Squint, a painter, white, but they’re sui generis: The Canadian author avoids referencing human culture. The art conveys warmth in an icy setting; animal characters suggest beloved stuffed toys, gently reinforcing the message that friendship founded on tolerance breeds comfort and safety.
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best. (Animal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3341-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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