by Stephanie Burgis ; illustrated by Freya Hartas ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 30, 2017
A gloriously fresh story to be read with a steaming cup of chocolate at hand.
Aventurine is tired of being treated like a baby hatchling.
The young dragon dreams of exploring the world, but her mother wants her safe at home reading books and finding her passion. When Aventurine flies away from the mountain to prove she’s fierce enough to take care of herself, she picks up a tantalizingly sweet scent that leads her to the source of the wonderful smell: chocolate. There’s a human, too, whom Aventurine plans to eat. He gives her a cup of hot melty chocolate, and Aventurine’s life changes with one enchanted sip. The bad news: Aventurine is now a vulnerable 12-year-old human girl. The good news: she’s found her passion—chocolate, of course—and she’s going to apprentice herself to a chocolatier. With the help of Silke, a black girl in men’s clothing, the unstoppable Aventurine, who still sees the world as a dragon does, finds her way to the Chocolate Heart and its proprietor, the golden-skinned Marina, a hot-tempered, uncompromising master chocolatier. As apprentice, Aventurine is launched on a new course, one on which she finds the strength to align her dragon and human selves while making chocolate that just might save the kingdom from some fiery enemies. Aventurine’s human self is apparently white, but the cast of secondary characters is diverse: Marina’s business partner is a black man, and the pink-skinned king has two brown-skinned daughters.
A gloriously fresh story to be read with a steaming cup of chocolate at hand. (Fantasy. 8-14)Pub Date: May 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68119-343-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by RaidesArt
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Julia Iredale
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by Annie Matthew ; developed by Kobe Bryant ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 24, 2021
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
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by Annie Matthew ; developed by Kobe Bryant
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