An enchanting fantasy for middle-grade readers who like a touch of magic in their fiction.
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A preteen girl learns about what’s valuable in life—and what’s not—after discovering a magical secondhand shop in her small town in the Midwest.
In the second middle-grade novel by the author of Monsterville (2016), 11-year-old Anna lives in Longford, an ordinary town in Illinois, in 1956. Anna thinks that she’s ordinary, too—not sporty like her brother or academic like her sister. But Anna is happy. She has a wild imagination, a great best friend, Carrie, and is known and liked by the adults in town. When she stumbles upon an otherworldly bric-a-brac shop on Main Street, it seems that life can only get better. The shop’s proprietors—lovely old Ruth and her grumpy husband, Vernon—call themselves “keepers.” They look after the magic of the world, and use a magic mirror to discern what their customers most desire. Best of all, Anna has the same gift. She, too, can see what the mirror shows. The shop makes Anna feel special, and she starts working there after school and brings in lots of new customers. But for all the good she does—for all that she makes lives better—some of the changes affect Longford in a less positive way. The magic that solves people’s problems takes something in return. Anna’s obsession with the shop places a strain on her friendship with Carrie. And the shop has a no-returns policy. While Anna’s dreams are coming true, it becomes clear that she needs to careful what she wishes for—a reality that makes this a delightful, safe adventure with insidious dark edges. The 1950s setting adds both a point of difference and a slightly dreamlike quality to the tale. Reida’s minor characters are well drawn and all have roles to play. The dialogue is natural. The prose is simple but polished, drawing readers faster and faster into the unfolding scenario. Given how neatly the plot is structured and how naturally it is traversed, the novel ends rather abruptly—but Anna has a vitality and effervescence that will have staying power for young readers.
An enchanting fantasy for middle-grade readers who like a touch of magic in their fiction.Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7348170-1-0
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Warrior Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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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 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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BOOK REVIEW
Roz, a robot who learned to adapt to life among wild creatures in her first outing, seeks to return to the island she calls home.
Brown’s sequel to The Wild Robot (2016) continues an intriguing premise: What would happen to a robot after challenges in an unexpected environment cause it to evolve in unusual ways? As this book opens, Roz is delivered to a farm where she helps a widower with two young children run a dairy operation that has been in his family for generations. Roz reveals her backstory to the cows, who are supportive of the robot’s determination to return to the island and to her adopted son, the goose Brightbill. The cows, the children, and finally Brightbill himself come to Roz’s aid. The focus on Roz’s escape from human control results in a somewhat solemn and episodic narrative, with an extended journey and chase after Roz leaves the farm. Dr. Molovo, a literal deus ex machina, appears near the end of the story to provide a means of rescue. She is Roz’s designer/creator, and, intrigued by the robot’s adaptation and evolution but cognizant of the threat that those achievements might represent to humans, she assists Roz and Brightbill in their quest. The satisfactory (if inevitable-feeling) conclusion may prompt discussion about individual agency and determination, whether for robots or people.
If not as effervescent as Roz’s first outing, it is still a provocatively contemplative one. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-38204-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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