A novel that’s sure to be a hit with everyday princesses who like junk food and video games.
Addams presents a modern YA fairy tale in which a princess deals with suitors, dragons, and approaching adulthood.
Sometime before her 18th birthday, Princess Nightingale—“Gale” for short—of the land of This-and-That chose to move to a tower at the edge of the woods. She needed her own space to stay up late playing an online game called Scabs of Destiny and then sleep until noon—or whenever her magic mirror, Reflexa, awakens her. The idea of becoming a responsible adult was already daunting, and then Wrathnarok, Harbinger of Doom, shows up. The large dragon lets Gale know that she’s about to receive several suitors hoping to win her hand. Gale doesn’t take this news well: “You OK, kid?” asks Wrathnarok. “You look like a puppy trying to bite a football.” Traditionally, a princess presents her husband-to-be to the court at her 18th birthday celebration. Gale’s not sure if she wants to be a princess anymore, and she isn’t looking to get married any time soon—especially not to the sad specimens who show up at her tower. Dragons also make difficult roommates; they eat everything in sight—even, on occasion, people. Can Gale make choices about her life without letting her kingdom down? Addams delivers a delightful tale that subversively values the independence of its protagonist above all. Gale effectively learns to find her joy in self-reliance with the help of her support network; her friends and family prove to be so understanding, in fact, that it takes some of the conflict out of her decisions. However, the novel more than makes up for this slight drawback with its sharp humor, as expressed by an exhausted narrator trying their best. The fantasy world, which not only features dragons but also the social network Gracebook and royal pizza makers, is entertaining, but the banter between Gale and Wrathnarok—who agrees to be called Mittens and shrink down to the size of a dog when off-duty—is the highlight of the story.
A novel that’s sure to be a hit with everyday princesses who like junk food and video games.Pub Date: May 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781961075344
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Amazon Book Marketing Pros
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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