SLEEPING SPELLS AND DRAGON SCALES

When Liam falls ill without explanation, his friend becomes convinced they need to break a fairy curse to cure him.

Four years ago, Liam and fairy-obsessed Alaina found a hidden grove covered in mirrors. Alaina was sure the items were fairy treasure, so when they accidentally broke one—and had nothing to leave in payment—Alaina worried the fairies would punish them. Now 12, Alaina and Liam have grown apart, but she still runs to his aid when he collapses and crashes his bike. At urgent care, Liam sees a white fox running into a picture on the wall and a mirror, yet the doctor finds nothing wrong. After Liam confides in Alaina that he doesn’t know why he sometimes feels extreme fatigue and can’t focus, she admits she’s always wondered whether developing Type 1 diabetes was her fairy curse; what if exhaustion is Liam’s punishment? With doctors baffled and his other friends picking on him for falling asleep in class, Liam works with Alaina to break his curse before it becomes permanent like hers. This lightly illustrated dual-perspective tale of two kids navigating chronic illness offers age-appropriate disability representation, but it lacks a solid middle-grade voice. The tweens’ dialogue contains outdated slang and adultlike narration, as well as numerous quotes from other works that become tedious. Liam reads white; contextual clues may point to Alaina’s having some Latine heritage.

Tries to accurately convey the experience of invisible illnesses but is hindered by its pacing and characterization.