Many familiar elements, but the characterization is strong in this adventure tale.
To save her father, a girl journeys with her friends to find a magical relic in Peaslee’s debut middle-grade fantasy series starter.
In Ferry Village, Maine, sixth-grader Josephine “JoJo” Mallory’s life is pretty ordinary—until the morning that she meets a leprechaun. He informs her that her father is being held in the prison fortress Shadowrock (formerly known as “Camelot”) by the evil sorcerer Pewtris Grimm’s three witch-daughters. They mean to torture him to find the location of a prized object, the Chrimeus, “Merlin’s most powerful magical legacy.” JoJo must travel through an underground portal to Erristan, where Shadowrock is, to locate the Chrimeus and trade it for her dad’s life. Luckily, she has her two best friends to help: Marcella “Marcy” DiPietro is awkward, physically and socially, but is the smartest kid in sixth grade, and Johnny Dowling—called “Trip” to commemorate his scoring a triple hat-trick (nine goals) in one hockey game—is the school’s star athlete. In Erristan, the three learn that Grimm has almost rid the land of Free Knights, the successors to the Knights of the Round Table who’ve guarded the Chrimeus since the fall of Camelot a thousand years ago. The magical object, one of five, is crucial to restoring the Free Knights to fight Grimm. With help from members of the local resistance, the youngsters face a series of challenges, and JoJo learns startling truths. Although the portal-quest format is all too standard in YA fantasy adventure, Peaslee does brings a few unusual changes to the Arthurian legend and shows some invention with his magical creatures, such as talking spiders and “Fast Turtles,” which characters use for transportation. The strongest feature of the book, though, is how Trip and Marcy, two very different people, learn to appreciate each other’s strengths and sympathize with their respective weaknesses. JoJo’s ability to maintain close friendships with both of them suggests her own nascent leadership ability, setting the stage for her to take on greater responsibilities in future volumes of this series.
Many familiar elements, but the characterization is strong in this adventure tale.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5229-6191-8
Page Count: 356
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Beautiful, remarkable, amazing, and wonderful in every way.
Hector wants to be a deep-sea diver, just like his father and grandfather.
He has internalized all his grandfather’s tales, especially the story of the “rarest, whitest, and purist pearl in the world,” said to live on the seabed offshore near the Marina, their family business. But the greedy Amedeo Limonta has set up a competitive business that’s forced the Marina to close. When Hector turns 8, everything changes. On his very first dive, he discovers the magical Pearl and brings it home…and complications ensue. Hector heeds his memories and dreams of his grandfather and courageously makes it all right. Hector narrates his adventures in meticulously organized chapters, carefully introducing each character, providing detailed information about relationships and events, and sharing credit for his successes. At the conclusion Hector presents readers with vivid descriptions of his beloved village and its inhabitants. Sabatinelli provides Hector with a voice that soars with lilting, expressive language, losing nothing in Turner’s translation from Italian. Bruno’s intensely bright, sharply hued illustrations are a tour de force. A chart of semaphore flags and diagrams that detail the parts of a diving suit fill the opening pages, and those flags head each chapter. The sea is evoked with glorious dreamlike color and movement, and characters’ features and expressions immediately announce their nature, emotions, and quirks. All present White. Hector is wise, kind, and readers will take him to their hearts.
Beautiful, remarkable, amazing, and wonderful in every way. (Adventure. 6-12)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63655-006-0
Page Count: 92
Publisher: Red Comet Press
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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