by Stuart Hill ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2005
Along with a marvelous and multi-species cast, this debut doorstopper features a teenaged warrior queen, naïve but a quick study, desperately seeking allies against the invading armies of a mighty empire. When her beloved, larger-than-life royal father falls while repelling the first army sent by the sprawling Polypontus Empire, Thirrin quickly discovers that effective rule requires more than an abiding delight in feats of arms. Aided by Oskan, a quarrelsome young warlock, and other unlikely advisors, she sets out to create alliances with both old friends, old enemies—the latter including both the long-persecuted Werewolves, and the bored, dissolute, undead Vampires—and with such creatures from legend as huge snow leopards and forest elementals. Then, she has the Polypontian second wave, numbering several hundred thousand and led by wily, never-defeated General Scipio Bellorum, to face. Hill brings Thirrin closer to readers with occasional modern touches (she calls her father “Dad,” for instance), and throws her up against genuinely knotty challenges to her wit, courage and spirit. With plenty of strange creatures, growing relationships, well done battle scenes and set pieces both terrifying and triumphant, this above average epic has something to please high fantasy fans of every stripe. (Fantasy. 11-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-439-68626-1
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2005
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by Laura Resau ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2006
When Clara Luna, 14, visits rural Mexico for the summer to visit the paternal grandparents she has never met, she cannot know her trip will involve an emotional and spiritual journey into her family’s past and a deep connection to a rich heritage of which she was barely aware. Long estranged from his parents, Clara’s father had entered the U.S. illegally years before, subsequently becoming a successful business owner who never spoke about what he left behind. Clara’s journey into her grandmother’s history (told in alternating chapters with Clara’s own first-person narrative) and her discovery that she, like her grandmother and ancestors, has a gift for healing, awakens her to the simple, mystical joys of a rural lifestyle she comes to love and wholly embrace. Painfully aware of not fitting into suburban teen life in her native Maryland, Clara awakens to feeling alive in Mexico and realizes a sweet first love with Pedro, a charming goat herder. Beautifully written, this is filled with evocative language that is rich in imagery and nuance and speaks to the connections that bind us all. Add a thrilling adventure and all the makings of an entrancing read are here. (glossaries) (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-73343-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2006
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by Jenny Han ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2009
The wish-fulfilling title and sun-washed, catalog-beautiful teens on the cover will be enticing for girls looking for a...
Han’s leisurely paced, somewhat somber narrative revisits several beach-house summers in flashback through the eyes of now 15-year-old Isabel, known to all as Belly.
Belly measures her growing self by these summers and by her lifelong relationship with the older boys, her brother and her mother’s best friend’s two sons. Belly’s dawning awareness of her sexuality and that of the boys is a strong theme, as is the sense of summer as a separate and reflective time and place: Readers get glimpses of kisses on the beach, her best friend’s flirtations during one summer’s visit, a first date. In the background the two mothers renew their friendship each year, and Lauren, Belly’s mother, provides support for her friend—if not, unfortunately, for the children—in Susannah’s losing battle with breast cancer. Besides the mostly off-stage issue of a parent’s severe illness there’s not much here to challenge most readers—driving, beer-drinking, divorce, a moment of surprise at the mothers smoking medicinal pot together.
The wish-fulfilling title and sun-washed, catalog-beautiful teens on the cover will be enticing for girls looking for a diversion. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: May 5, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4169-6823-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2009
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by Jenny Han ; Siobhan Vivian
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