Kennedy's companion to The Owlstone Crown (1983) is set once again in Other Earth, the Land of the Moonflower. Giant killer bees want sole rights to the moonflower nectar. When Grandfather Tibb refuses their request, they kidnap his grandson, Mustard, and carry him off to their lair on April Fool Isle. Grandfather Tibb puts Lew Ladybug, private eye, on the case and packs Mustard's twin brother and sister, Tim and Verity, off to boarding school where he thinks they'll be safer. A brown bear named Fardels goes along as bodyguard. But it doesn't take the twins long to figure out that the whole school is run by killer bees, and a huge swarm plans to invade on parents' day, imprisoning all the humans. They need to clear out and rescue Mustard pronto. Traveling in a little blue blimp, the twins and Fardels reach April Fool Isle safely, but the plot thickens when a huge invisible eagle kidnaps Verity, insisting she baby-sit for its eaglets. Now Tim has two rescues to perform. Readers who only know Kennedy by his inventive verse will be delighted to find this novel, with its unusual characters, humorous dialogue—especially from the tough-talking ladybug—calamitous plot twists, and mounting tension. Like its predecessor, it's an original and fast-paced fantasy. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-689-81157-8
Page Count: 173
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1997
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
Did you like this book?
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
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
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2022 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
