An action-packed if slightly unbalanced foray into a gaming summer camp.
At their live-action role-playing camp, will two feuding gamers pause their hostilities when one member sights a troll?
Attending Camp Owlcare with all five Table Titans gamers thrills Valeria, but it isn’t as exciting for Titans newcomer Kate, who’s furious with Alan for an in-game incident that crushed her feelings. Confident that he’s justified in his actions, Alan apparently doesn’t care how much he hurt Kate. The emotional fallout of their feud leaks into every camp activity—centaur archery, a merfolk swimming race, and more—despite their friends’ trying to broker peace. Val just wants everyone to have fun—and for them to help her track down the legendary camp troll she knows she saw eating food from a dumpster. Alan and Kate’s feud illustrates how deeply gamers feel about their characters and their quests, but it also goes on for too long, bringing down the fun summer camp vibe and overshadowing other interesting and quirky characters and storylines, including Kate and Val’s up-and-down friendship. The colorful, cartoonlike artwork effortlessly builds both the camp world and the scenes of game worlds. The camp itself may disappoint readers who are gamers, offering mostly rebranded traditional camp activities rather than actual LARPing. Fans of the series, though, will jump right into this second volume. Most characters are light-skinned and appear white. Brown-skinned Darius presents Black.
An action-packed if slightly unbalanced foray into a gaming summer camp. (illustrated guide to the cast) (Graphic fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 10, 2026
ISBN: 9780823453177
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
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 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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