Entertaining, but rugged.
The dragonets of prophecy, free of both the Talons of Peace and the evil SkyWing queen, travel to the SeaWings’ palace, hoping to find a safe haven from their many enemies.
Infighting over who should lead leaves Tsunami feeling isolated. She dreams of a glorious homecoming befitting the next heir to the SeaWing throne. However, while Coral, the SeaWing queen, is welcoming, danger lurks beneath the dark water. Unable to speak the local language and thrust into a world of diplomacy and honor, Tsunami soon finds that the life of royalty is just as stifling as the cave in which she was raised. Faced with a choice between aligning herself with the SeaWings or continuing toward her prophecied destiny, Tsunami must decide where her loyalties lie. Along with the high-stakes decisions, the dragonets also face familiar adolescent challenges, including first crushes, parental angst and insecurity. This second installment in the Wings of Fire series proves to be as fast-paced and layered as the first. It also proves to be as violent. Explicit battle scenes, graphic deaths and even the suggestion that one dragon should “feel free to kill [himself]” will limit the allure of this series for many.
Entertaining, but rugged. (Adventure. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-34919-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
A strong start to a new series in the ever-popular Warriors world: Legions of fans will purr.
Increased evidence of encroachment by Twolegs and other ominous signs of change roil the five feline Clans of the lake territories in this kickoff of a new story arc.
In intertwined storylines, a distracting voice in a young apprentice’s head takes on increasingly scary strength, disturbing visions inform an experienced warrior that she’s been chosen by the spirit guides of StarClan to play an unwanted role in impending troubles, and a wise but weakening Clan leader faces being voted out of office due to her age. Meanwhile, the enigmatic Twolegs are tearing up a forested area, poisoning an important stream, and possibly threatening all the established territories of the five Clans. Avid series fans will welcome encounters with older versions of Leafstar, Tawnypelt, and other stalwarts whom they met in previous episodes. Detailed maps labeling the terrain in both cat and Twoleg terms appear at the beginning of the book, along with a cast list of truly imposing length, helping any readers who need reminders to keep track of the dozens of relationships and Clan affiliations. Better yet, expertly mixed in among dreams and discussions that crank up the general level of anxiety, the book has enough incidental action and individual wrestling with personal issues to help the main characters stand out from the furry crowd.
A strong start to a new series in the ever-popular Warriors world: Legions of fans will purr. (Animal fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780063357068
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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