An adventurous tale with a heartwarming message of acceptance.
A Viking Age teen surmounts daunting odds to redefine family and find belonging in this adventure.
Orphaned Helga has felt the valley dwellers’ coldness for most of her 13 years. She’s tried to change the villagers’ perceptions of Goat-Thigh, who took her in and is the only father she’s ever known. But people say he’s a “bear-man,” subject to the violent inherited tempers of a berserker. Helga has never seen this side of him, and for her latest effort to earn acceptance and protection, she convinces Goat-Thigh to transport a beautiful tapestry she wove to honor the chieftain at his cousin Fox-Brow’s funeral. But when they arrive, her tapestry reveals unexpected magic, and Goat-Thigh’s bear-fury overcomes him. Helga, accompanied by best friend Scratcher, attempts to make a calming offering at the mountain known as Troll Teeth but instead releases a host of violent draugar, or undead spirits, who lurch off toward the chieftain’s longhouse. Helga, Scratcher, and the chieftain’s daughter, Margrét Thistle-Heart, become uneasy allies as they vanquish the draugar, unravel family secrets, and find their places within their community. Helga’s first-person narration effectively captures a universal longing for acceptance, combining elements from Icelandic sagas and Norse mythology with themes of difference and acceptance. Khatkevich’s illustrations give shape to the draugar’s tortured expressions and depict aspects of the clothing, hairstyles, and homes of the primarily light-skinned characters.
An adventurous tale with a heartwarming message of acceptance. (author’s note) (Historical fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: June 16, 2026
ISBN: 9781665974493
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic.
A loyal black kitten’s boy is under supernatural attack.
Eleven-month-old Nimbus loves Fletcher, the boy who nursed her back to health following life-threatening injuries. When Fletcher becomes curious about a strange jar and opens it, releasing a terrible goblin, loyal Nim protects Fletcher, taking heavy damage in the process. But Fletcher’s aunt, who’s caring for him over spring break, believes Nim attacked Fletcher and dumps her far from home. Rhett, a stylish rat with star quality, befriends injured Nim and leads her to a witch’s house. While the witch cares for Nim, the witch’s cats (maternal Fern, bookish Rochester, standoffish Bianca, and openly hostile Abraxas) teach Nim important cat skills. She also discovers she has a supernatural ability: In destroying one eye of the nightmare demon in the fight to protect Fletcher, Nim gained its “dream sight.” But she also learns it might come back for Fletcher, who no longer has Nim to protect him, posing a time-sensitive, high-stakes threat. Even though the witch’s home is nice and magic itself seems to be telling her to stay put, Nim wants to find a way back to Fletcher. As a hero, Nimbus is as gritty and determined as she is adorable. Tear-jerker moments explore pet abandonment—readers may want their own pets on hand to hug—all the way through the magical, action-packed finale. Fletcher and the witch read white.
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780062680372
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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