An entertaining fantasy romp that mixes uproarious japes with wise insights into friendship and forgiveness.
Mischievous monsters run riot in an elementary school in Acevedo’s raucous children’s book.
After petty feuds end his friendships with classmates Tinker and Knox, Marco Torres, a fifth grader at Gabriel García Márquez K-8 school somewhere near Lake Michigan, decides to procure new friends via an ad for “mail-order monsters” found in his dad’s vintage comic book. When they arrive, the monsters appear to be tiny, inert, rubber figurines, but he follows the instructions that tell him to take a bath with them; as promised, the figurines grow to be a foot tall and come to life. The three monsters are Growler, a red-furred gorilla with tentacles on his head who is a great digger and utters an ebullient, ear-splitting roar; Camo, a chameleonic character who changes color or turns invisible to blend with her surroundings and perfectly mimics any sound or voice; and Stinky, a green-skinned, yellow-haired creature whose power is to emit strong odors both nasty (rotting fish) and nice (fragrances of coconut and fried onion rings). When Marco takes them to school, the playful, talkative monsters cause a sensation among the students, who collectively agree to conceal their existence from adults—but the creatures inevitably raise merry hell with their antics. These include freaking people out by scrabbling noisily through the ventilation ducts; dumping a can of yellow paint on the janitor’s head; stealing the principal’s keys; stealing the teachers’ lunches; and releasing classroom pets from their cages. Marco’s popularity surges because of the monsters, but he also struggles to keep them secret from grown-ups and feels some guilt when they cross the line into mild delinquency. The monsters also catalyze a showdown with Tinker and Knox when Marco challenges Tinker to a toy-truck race, one vehicle to be driven by Growler and the other by Tinker’s homemade robot, Clank.
Acevedo’s yarn feels like a tamer version of Gremlins with a Latine flavor—most of Marco’s schoolmates are Latine and there are passages of Spanish dialogue. The narrative includes a raft of lessons on the importance of apologizing and not holding grudges, and about the moral imperative to grant autonomy to all sentient beings, human or not. The author has a shrewd feel for elementary school social psychology, from the tense jockeying for lunch-table seats to the bratty maneuvers by which Knox frames Marco for his own disruptions. (“Knox clucked like a chicken, over and over again, apparently hoping to rattle the class. Every time Mrs. Kroppert turned around, Knox turned to look at him. So naturally, she thought Marco was to blame.”) The characters are sharply drawn and lively, with the monsters standing out for their mix of oddball eccentricities and pluck. Acevedo’s prose is colorful and evocative, with lots of rambunctious energy (“That’s when the monsters made a break for it. He watched, aghast, as his desk top popped open and pencils, paper, and crayons flew in every direction. It looked like he’d set off a string of firecrackers”). Tweens will get a kick out of the spiky characters and vigorous storytelling.
An entertaining fantasy romp that mixes uproarious japes with wise insights into friendship and forgiveness.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781950150021
Page Count: -
Publisher: Three Points Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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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