by Susan Adrian ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2017
Fans of ballet will be disappointed by the lack of detail, and fans of magic will be as disappointed by the smoothness of...
There’s magic onstage and off in this production of The Nutcracker.
Unfortunately, there’s little call for applause. Georgie, a blonde white girl, wins the coveted role of Clara, the girl who helps defeat the Mouse King and travels to the Kingdom of Sweets with the Nutcracker prince. The magic begins when Georgie holds the antique Nutcracker doll used as a prop in her hands. He has been under a spell for 200 years, and this is the final time he can call for help before he is imprisoned forever. Georgie is determined to do what she can. As she says: “I believe in magic.” Rehearsals follow with visits to the Nutcracker’s mysterious otherworld, easily entered and easily left. A new friend, Noah, who’s black and who is not in the ballet, helps her and is able to travel in and out of the magic as readily. Georgie juggles concern for her sick grandfather, a busy rehearsal schedule, and a messy friendship with a former BFF who has not been cast. She also uncovers a connection between the E.T.A. Hoffmann classic tale, her teacher, and the Nutcracker doll. It’s a holiday package all conveniently tied together, with too little delving into its elements to satisfy.
Fans of ballet will be disappointed by the lack of detail, and fans of magic will be as disappointed by the smoothness of the spells. (Magical realism. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-55668-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
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by Shannon Messenger ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 2, 2012
Wholesome shading to bland, but well-stocked with exotic creatures and locales, plus an agreeable cast headed by a child...
A San Diego preteen learns that she’s an elf, with a place in magic school if she moves to the elves’ hidden realm.
Having felt like an outsider since a knock on the head at age 5 left her able to read minds, Sophie is thrilled when hunky teen stranger Fitz convinces her that she’s not human at all and transports her to the land of Lumenaria, where the ageless elves live. Taken in by a loving couple who run a sanctuary for extinct and mythical animals, Sophie quickly gathers friends and rivals at Foxfire, a distinctly Hogwarts-style school. She also uncovers both clues to her mysterious origins and hints that a rash of strangely hard-to-quench wildfires back on Earth are signs of some dark scheme at work. Though Messenger introduces several characters with inner conflicts and ambiguous agendas, Sophie herself is more simply drawn as a smart, radiant newcomer who unwillingly becomes the center of attention while developing what turn out to be uncommonly powerful magical abilities—reminiscent of the younger Harry Potter, though lacking that streak of mischievousness that rescues Harry from seeming a little too perfect. The author puts her through a kidnapping and several close brushes with death before leaving her poised, amid hints of a higher destiny and still-anonymous enemies, for sequels.
Wholesome shading to bland, but well-stocked with exotic creatures and locales, plus an agreeable cast headed by a child who, while overly fond of screaming, rises to every challenge. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4593-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
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by Ally Malinenko ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 10, 2021
A didactic blueprint disguised as a supernatural treasure map.
A girl who delights in the macabre harnesses her inherited supernatural ability.
It’s not just her stark white hair that makes 11-year-old Zee Puckett stand out in nowheresville Knobb’s Ferry. She’s a storyteller, a Mary Shelley fangirl, and is being raised by her 21-year-old high school dropout sister while their father looks for work upstate (cue the wayward glances from the affluent demography). Don’t pity her, because Zee doesn’t acquiesce to snobbery, bullying, or pretty much anything that confronts her. But a dog with bleeding eyes in a cemetery gives her pause—momentarily—because the beast is just the tip of the wicked that has this way come to town. Time to get some help from ghosts. The creepy supernatural current continues throughout, intermingled with very real forays into bullying (Zee won’t stand for it or for the notion that good girls need to act nice), body positivity, socio-economic status and social hierarchy, and mental health. This debut from a promising writer involves a navigation of caste systems, self-esteem, and villainy that exists in an interesting world with intriguing characters, but they receive a flat, two-dimensional treatment that ultimately makes the book feel like one is learning a ho-hum lesson in morality. Zee is presumably White (as is her rich-girl nemesis–cum-comrade, Nellie). Her best friend, Elijah, is cued as Black. Warning: this just might spur frenzied requests for Frankenstein.
A didactic blueprint disguised as a supernatural treasure map. (Supernatural. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-304460-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
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