Fans of swashbuckling adventures will find much to enjoy. Just watch out for that inevitable sequel.
A cursed temple? Magical jewels? Hungry hippos? A bumbling captain? Adventure ahoy!
On a family vacation in Brazil, 12-year-old book connoisseur Mike Gonzalez does his best to protect his rambunctious 8-year-old sister, Dani, from the dangers of thrill-seeking. Enter Capt. Kevin Adventureson, an overconfident, pun-loving adventurer seeking fabled treasure deep in the Amazon. When the siblings inadvertently get swept up in Capt. Kevin’s antics, Mike longs to escape the captain’s orbit at every turn, while Dani can’t get enough of her newfound hero. A detour leads to clashes with villainous thieves, and soon enough the trio is joined by Aruna, a feisty former waitress with a secret. As the quartet pushes further into the Amazon, the makeshift heroes must narrowly overcome their adversaries, including ghastly caimans, dastardly rogues, and, of course, Capt. Kevin’s bungling whims. With backgrounds in child-oriented television franchises, Peterson and Pruett deliver a pulpy, screwball novel that emphasizes action, danger, and humor over authentic exploration of Brazil. Chapters vary between Mike’s and Dani’s points of view via third-person narration, providing emotional plateaus as necessary, and sporadic journal entries from Capt. Kevin—a sort of deconstructed Indiana Jones—add some levity at critical points. Ajhar’s dynamic illustrations introduce each chapter and appropriately set the tone for what follows: a journey spiked with absurdity. A racially diverse, seemingly mostly non-Brazilian cast is implied but not confirmed.
Fans of swashbuckling adventures will find much to enjoy. Just watch out for that inevitable sequel. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: May 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-00847-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ratcheted-up stakes keep readers invested in this rollicking-good sequel.
In this sequel to Maya and the Rising Dark (2020), Maya and her Papa, the orisha Elegguá, are repairing a gigantic tear in the veil, the astral divider between humanity and the Dark.
This exercise is part of Chicago resident Maya’s continuing lessons as a guardian-in-training. Of course, the Lord of Shadows chooses this moment for a vengeful strike in retaliation for the orishas’ killing of his creations, the darkbringers. Maya notices Papa is taking longer to recover than usual; he confesses that ever since the Lord of Shadows held him captive, his strength and powers haven’t quite returned—but he doesn’t know why. During Elegguá’s visit with wise orisha Obatala in the city of Azur, Obatala tells him that the Lord of Shadows took his soul during the battle in which Maya set Elegguá free. Without his soul, Elegguá will slowly die. In the meantime, some of Maya’s schoolmates come into their own godling powers, which causes them internal confusion and their middle school to erupt into chaos—and could lead to celestial chaos as well. Like its predecessor, this volume presents a multicultural universe that centers West African influences; the worldbuilding is developed here in greater detail, with the action picking up later in the novel. Readers are plunged into a continuation of the story with little recap, making knowledge of the first book a necessity.
Ratcheted-up stakes keep readers invested in this rollicking-good sequel. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-10632-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
A delightful read for anyone who loves magic.
When 12-year-old Rufus Takada Collins finds an old train, it puts him in the midst of a magical, life-or-death scavenger hunt.
After a school year characterized by what he thinks of as a series of Fatal Errors, Rufus is looking forward to spending the summer with Grandpa Jack at Feylawn, the family property that encompasses forest, meadow, creek, and orchard. At Feylawn, Rufus finds an old-fashioned locomotive. Unfortunately, Grandpa Jack is hurt falling through rotting floorboards before he can learn about the train, and Rufus’ father bans Rufus from Feylawn. Rufus sneaks back and finds he can now see fairylike creatures called feylings. He discovers the train is the feylings’ only way home, and it’s been missing for years. With the help of his pretentious cousin, Rufus must decipher old clues to find the missing train parts. But this journey leads him to possibly the ultimate Fatal Error. With mischievous feylings, goblins, and magic, this is an exciting, fast-paced middle-grade fantasy. The characters’ experiences are also grounded in the real world: parental unemployment, divorce, friendship, familial bonds, growing up, family secrets, grief, and loss. Big lessons for readers and Rufus both are the importance of looking at the bigger picture and understanding how choices affect more than just ourselves. Both cousins are biracial; Rufus’ mother is of Japanese heritage, and his father is white, and Abigail’s father is Mexican, and her mother is white.
A delightful read for anyone who loves magic. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-30119-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
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