A satisfyingly silly and fast-paced sequel.
It’s been two months since Chance and Pauline Jeopard and their friend Mersey Marsh escaped Saint Philomene’s Infirmary for Magical Creatures.
The Jeopards pass the hot, boring Texas summer working on personal projects and getting acquainted with their mom’s golf-loving, Arnold Palmer–drinking boyfriend. Mersey is occupied with her new boyfriend, Killiam Ng. The siblings’ ennui comes to an abrupt halt when they have to save the underground world of Donbaloh from human folly (again). An Oppaboffian miner—a human from “up above”—wants to drill into Donbaloh’s unimaginable mineral riches in order to eradicate human poverty, but at the risk of wiping out 11 million Donbalese citizens. In order to save the realm “down below,” Chance and Pauline (with Mersey helping from aboveground) will make a treacherous 6-hour voyage along an underground river, talk their way past a bureaucratic librarian, and slide down a chute into a stinky pile of laundry, but with the help of old friends and new, both human and Donbalese, they might be able to pull it off. The worldbuilding is creative and richly detailed, and an appendix provides an overview of Donbaloh’s unusual flora and fauna. Some of the hilarious comparisons, droll humor, and pop-culture references might go over younger readers’ heads but will be greatly appreciated by others. Assume Whiteness for most human characters; Killiam’s surname cues him as Chinese.
A satisfyingly silly and fast-paced sequel. (Fantasy. 8-14)Pub Date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-62779-259-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Brilliant.
Young heroes rise to the challenge of protecting their home, family, and world when a new villain threatens the Glimouria Archipelago and the Immortal in this third series entry.
“New trouble” comes to the sanctuary of Glimt when Irian Guinne is kidnapped and Teren, the young Immortal, is threatened. Christopher Forrester, former princess Anya, jaculus dragon Jacques, and ratatoska navigator Ratwin undertake a series of herculean tasks to fulfill the kidnappers’ demands and free Irian, all without Nighthand’s knowledge or help. Christopher seeks knowledge from Naravirala the sphinx to understand his new, deeper connection to creatures (“It is the people you love who anchor you”), while Anya leans into her warrior nature (“What if I was born to be brave?”). Meanwhile, bandits with ouroboros bracelets pillage and burn across the Archipelago at the command of Astor Morax, and a fearsome tiger spies through mirrors. The white-presenting leads’ quest to save Irian is central, but brief sections visit Irian, Nighthand, and beautiful, deadly Carla Venasque. The climactic Battle of Glimt features ferocity, cleverness, sacrifice, and bravery, and the ending is more Shakespearean comedy than tragedy—but the danger to Teren is not over, leaving eager readers to await the fourth installment. This is a perfectly paced, mythology-laced tale of action, adventure, and heart that reminds readers that “the only thing stronger than fear is love, unceasingly and exultantly given.” Final art not seen.
Brilliant. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9780593809945
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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