A high-stakes and exciting tale of good versus evil that thoughtfully reflects on modern maladies.
A boy from a long line of paranormal healers fights the embodiment of illness itself in McCormick’s debut middle-grade fantasy novel.
Twelve-year-old Alexander Asclepius Revelstoke, a Seattle middle schooler, has the ability to sense things about people’s physical conditions. It’s true that his parents are doctors and that he’s grown up surrounded by the tools, books, and journals of their trade, but that doesn’t explain his unusual talent. When his parents become aware of his gift, they take Alex to visit his Grandpa Asclepius, who explains that although the power sometimes skips generations, “Revelstokes can see disease, can diagnose illness, without labs or x-rays. And not just disease. Injury, illness, anything wrong with the body.” It turns out that the Revelstokes also have an enemy, called ILL (“all in capital letters to emphasize his power,” Alex’s dad says), an evil entity who creates or worsens diseases and addictions. Asclepius’ father managed to shackle and weaken ILL, but he still has great power to harm others. It’s up to Alex to destroy ILL before he can carry out his plan to unleash a deadly worldwide plague. Alex has a few allies, but his strength, courage, and healing abilities will be tested to their limits. The story’s pandemic theme is impressively timely and resonant considering that McCormick’s book was written before the rise of the Covid-19 crisis. McCormick intriguingly links age-old diseases like leprosy with modern-day health dangers, such as hugely increased serving sizes of junk food—both of which were conjured by ILL. The suspenseful plot is well grounded in Alex’s growth as a healer and his growing maturity, as shown in his developing friendship with blue-haired Penelope, a new girl in town who was recently orphaned.
A high-stakes and exciting tale of good versus evil that thoughtfully reflects on modern maladies.Pub Date: May 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5092-3566-7
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
An enthralling fantasy debut exploring exploitation by those in power.
Will 12-year-old Nura be able to outsmart the trickster jinn and save herself and her friends?
Nura lives in the fictional Pakistani town of Meerabagh, where she has worked mining mica to help support her family of five—her mother, herself, and her three younger siblings—since her father’s death. In the mines she has the company of her best friend, Faisal, who is teased by other kids for his stutter, and she enjoys small pleasures like splurging on gulab jamun. Although Maa wants Nura to stop working and attend school, she has no interest in classroom learning and hopes to save up to send her younger siblings to school instead so they can break the family’s cycle of poverty. Following a mining accident in which Faisal and others are lost in the rubble, Nura goes to the rescue. In her quest, she is plunged into the magical, glittering jinn realm, where nothing is as it seems. The author seamlessly weaves into the worldbuilding of the story commentary on real-life problems such as the ravages of child labor and systems that perpetuate inequities. An informative author’s note further explores present-day global cycles of oppression as well as the life-changing power of education. This action-packed story set in a Muslim community moves at a fast pace, with evocative writing that brings the fantasy world to life and lyrical imagery to describe emotions.
An enthralling fantasy debut exploring exploitation by those in power. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5795-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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