In this finale to the Touchstone Trilogy, past and present magically converge when 12-year-old Midge completes the work begun by her great-great aunt Celandine decades before to rescue five ancient tribes of little people hiding from the human world in the woods of Mill Farm. Sensing their end is near, the desperate little people ask Midge to find the Orbis, an instrument entrusted to Celandine for safekeeping and crucial to their survival. Midge discovers Celandine still alive in a nursing home but with no memory of the little people. With Midge’s help, Celandine gradually pieces together the past, allowing Midge to play a pivotal role in saving the little people they both love. Reminiscent of Tom’s Midnight Garden, intergenerational heroines Celandine and Midge are linked across time in their ability to accept and appreciate the incredible. Behind the briars and brambles, Augarde reveals “truly another world” populated by fantastical fairy folk whose meticulously detailed lives are filled with drama and dreams. A perfectly paced, beautifully crafted and moving end to a memorable fantasy. (Fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: May 12, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-385-75074-5
Page Count: 448
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2009
Briskly paced, expertly crafted, and stocked with surprising twists and nuanced characters.
A young warrior battles inner ghosts and a rival to the throne in this series kickoff.
Switching to a graphic format, Myklusch returns to the elusive island of Imagine Nation, the setting of his Jack Blank novel series, where belief is the ruling principle. Dreaming of measuring up to his dead parents, Skerren takes center stage in a battle for the crown of Varagog, where it’s always 1404. He faces Zorn, the son of a displaced ruler who fled years ago following the cybernetic Rüstov’s invasion attempt. Orlando’s art effectively showcases Imagine Nation’s racially and culturally distinctive residents and settings as the high-action plot shifts scenes beyond Varagog to Faerie and futuristic Hightown—until an evil alliance in the Night Lands that threatens everyone on the island is revealed. In combat scenes, the artist also substitutes sprays of black Night Lander goop for red blood, rendering swordfights somewhat less gory. To the pleasure of returning fans (and comics readers in general), Jack and his fantastically rubbery-blue friend Allegra step in to help, and in a Marvel Universe–style twist, a conflicted older retainer nursing a devastating secret later plays a crucial role. Happily, for those readers who aren’t fans of never-ending plotlines, this volume offers enough of a resolution to work as a stand-alone.
Briskly paced, expertly crafted, and stocked with surprising twists and nuanced characters. (Graphic fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781665928182
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
Solid, authentic basketball action with plenty of food for thought, colored with elements of fantasy.
A former NBA superstar is part of a writing duo that combines basketball and magic to tell the story of a struggling inner-city team.
Twelve-year-old Rain treasures the Fairwood Community Center and his team, the West Bottom Badgers. Although it is run-down, the walls hung with tattered banners, for Rain, the gym represents his best chance of becoming a success. The team owner, Freddy, has also brought in a new coach, professor Rolabi Wizenard, with a decidedly different way of running things. He seems to speak in riddles and use magic—the appearance of a tiger to assist in a drill, for example. As Rain contemplates life, he hears Rolabi in his head, challenging his fears and his thoughts about himself. Teammate Alfie, aka Twig, is from a comfortable suburban family, and some of the guys never let him forget it. Mercilessly teased, he has no one to confide in—but he might be the one to unlock the secret behind their new coach. The novel is unusual in structure and plot as readers experience the same incidents portrayed through different perspectives, each revealing another layer of the story. The end of training camp and the approach of actual games concludes the novel, leaving a cliffhanger for the next volume. Physical descriptions are limited, but most major characters are brown-skinned.
Solid, authentic basketball action with plenty of food for thought, colored with elements of fantasy. (Sports fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: March 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-949520-01-9
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
