Lively and sometimes-surly preteen characters helm this fresh, well-crafted supernatural fantasy.
A girl and her friends experience otherworldly dangers and fantastical discoveries at summer camp.
Twelve-year-old Harmony, who lives with her divorced mom, is grumpy that they had to suddenly move from Los Angeles to a small Northern California town simply because some weird little man had followed her around the mall. Even worse, Mom enrolled her in summer camp, where Harmony is sure misery awaits her. Camp Coho, in the redwood forest near Mendocino, is no ordinary camp. Readers learn this when the camp dog, Guardian Hound MacUmba, silently assesses the campers as they arrive. Observing “tiny threads of rage” floating around Harmony, he silently tells the camp director, Mr. Magnussen, “This one could prove to be difficult.” Rude and sarcastic, angry at her absentee mother, Harmony nonetheless befriends cabin mate Olivia, and gradually, the pair teams up with three boys their age. They discover that they have more in common than camp after Harmony responds to a dare with a forbidden, late-night trek into the forest, followed by her worried friends. Here, this imaginative fantasy by debut author Hendrix becomes a roller-coaster ride into the supernatural. A fierce, massively transformed MacUmba saves the young people from a “draugar” (war dog zombie), and they are transported back and forth in time via ancient “Sentinel Trees.” The quintet subsequently learns that ghosts, goblins, the fae, and the undead are real, and they have magical potential of their own. Throughout, Hendrix adds real-world substance to the plot with a framework of the area’s folklore, history, geography, and ecology. Readers will find hints of what to expect in the upcoming sequel as still prickly Harmony and her friends enter seventh grade while honing the magical skills that will undoubtedly be needed. A brief excerpt from the second installment, introducing a new character, provides an additional teaser.
Lively and sometimes-surly preteen characters helm this fresh, well-crafted supernatural fantasy.Pub Date: April 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-89147-7
Page Count: 222
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 11, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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