A gripping continuation.
In the sequel to The Blackhope Enigma (2011), a villain abducts Sunni and Blaise to discover the secrets they learned while inside magical artist Fausto Corvo’s painting.
Using an elixir to take them through a trompe l’oeil door, Throgmorton traps them in 1752 London. While the two faced dangers in their first ordeal, the tale was also suffused with whimsy and light. This time, they must cope with a situation much harsher than any they have ever known. To force them to talk, Throgmorton holds them captive in an art academy, producing forgeries. After a fellow apprentice who displeases Throgmorton is sold to anatomists, they quickly stop complaining about the gritty clothes, bad food and dim candlelight, as well as the disruptive habit of first and second sleep—a setting so well-described, readers will feel and breathe it. With the help of two colorful thieves and a set of aristocrats seeking diversion, Sunni and Blaise escape and search for a magician who can help them travel back to the future. Youngsters will easily follow the action, whether or not they read the first book. The characters are richly drawn and the pace brisk, for Sunni and Blaise’s window—or door, in this case—of opportunity is quickly closing.
A gripping continuation. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6093-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fast-paced and plot-driven.
In his latest, prolific author Gratz takes on Hitler’s Olympic Games.
When 13-year-old American gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games, she has one goal: stardom. If she can bring home a gold medal like her friend, the famous equestrian-turned-Hollywood-star Mary Brooks, she might be able to lift her family out of their Dust Bowl poverty. But someone slips a strange note under Evie’s door, and soon she’s dodging Heinz Fischer, the Hitler Youth member assigned to host her, and meeting strangers who want to make use of her gymnastic skills—to rob a bank. As the games progress, Evie begins to see the moral issues behind their sparkling facade—the antisemitism and racism inherent in Nazi ideology and the way Hitler is using the competition to support and promote these beliefs. And she also agrees to rob the bank. Gratz goes big on the Mission Impossible–style heist, which takes center stage over the actual competitions, other than Jesse Owens’ famous long jump. A lengthy and detailed author’s note provides valuable historical context, including places where Gratz adapted the facts for storytelling purposes (although there’s no mention of the fact that before 1952, Olympic equestrian sports were limited to male military officers). With an emphasis on the plot, many of the characters feel defined primarily by how they’re suffering under the Nazis, such as the fictional diver Ursula Diop, who was involuntarily sterilized for being biracial.
Fast-paced and plot-driven. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781338736106
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
Reflective children will revel in this thought-provoking world.
The journey to find a child becomes an existential quest for an abandoned teddy bear.
Buddy is not just any stuffed bear, but a blue Furrington Teddy with a Real Silk Heart. So why did he wake up in a landfill with other Furringtons of varying hues? A more pressing matter, however, is escaping Trashland and its murderous gulls and bulldozers. Yearning to connect with a child and achieve a state of peaceful Forever Sleep, Buddy and his new friends of differing temperaments and gifts set out on a harrowing journey through the city to find children who will want them. As they encounter other Furringtons in disarray, this opener in The Teddies Saga series becomes a mystery about why these teddies are being harmed in the first place. While the visceral narrative follows the teddy troupe’s adventurous challenges and survival, its focus is on Buddy’s inner struggles as he ponders identity, leadership, and other existential dilemmas. Kraus doesn’t shy away from anger, fear, death, and other dark subjects; instead they become opportunities for growth in difficult environments. Cai’s intense, slightly nightmarish grayscale illustrations add immeasurably to the text. Reminiscent of Watership Down in theme and structure, the novel’s intermittent teddy creation stories also become parables of a moral code and extend the epic story arc. A cliffhanger ending sets the scene for the next installment.
Reflective children will revel in this thought-provoking world. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-22440-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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