An endlessly stimulating sequel that caters to intellectually fearless readers.
The second volume of Hoffman’s (The Eleventh Ring, 2014) YA trilogy about anthropomorphic rabbits whose thoughts can shape reality.
Following their defeat of King Oberon in The Eleventh Ring, Bartholomew and Oliver, rabbits from the land of Lapinor, have returned to their everyday lives. Bartholomew and his wife, Clara, are shapers who can “create thought clouds” and then “convert those clouds to solid objects.” Oliver, meanwhile, is an inventor who’s just designed a new flying vehicle called the Adventurer II. He visits the Fortress of Elders, overseen by the mechanical Edmund the Rabbiton. Once the craft is built, Bartholomew and Clara join their friends for a trip to Pterosaur Valley, where they intend to visit the home of Bruno Rabbit, the shaper who gave Bartholomew the awesomely powerful Eleventh Shapers Guild Ring and also entrusted to him a hidden, mysterious abode. Inside, the adventurers find a strange set of keys that open the World Doors—portals to nearby realms. Oddly enough, it’s Edmund who informs everyone about the keys; the robot has been listening more often to his “inner voice,” which never fails to help guide the group. When Edmund soon creates a “spectral doorway,” Bartholomew’s latest journey leaps through time and space. In part two of his trilogy, Hoffman once more enfolds readers in an optimistic, innovative fantasy world in which anything can happen. He weaves together the ancient pursuits of Edmund the Explorer (who inspires the Rabbiton), the dangerous realm of Nirriim, and the time throttle (which can slow down the universe). Instrumental to it all is the Thirteenth Monk, one of the Blue Monks who communicate by singing. Though many of these elements will attract middle-grade audiences, Hoffman’s narrative bustles with gorgeous moments, like when Edmund says, “The song pours into me and fills the vast and infinite empty space between my atoms.”
An endlessly stimulating sequel that caters to intellectually fearless readers.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9971952-1-7
Page Count: 328
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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