A disappointing affirmation of the status quo
Five intertwined short stories all involve journeys that rarely conclude at home.
In “The Fisherman’s Daughter,” set in the Ghana Empire, Ajuba prefers fishing with her father over helping her mother. When Ajuba’s father dies at sea, Nana, the wise woman, says the sea also wants Ajuba. The villagers give her to the sea, where she must accomplish several monumental tasks and return her father’s bones to the village. Eventually Ajuba becomes a Mami-Wata—a mermaid. Aspects of this tale are further explored in the volume’s third and fourth tales, and the second and fifth tales similarly connect. Despite fantastical plots, the places are real—and all over the place: Ghana, Senegal, Scotland, the California coast, etc. Despite this, the stories fail as world stories, as gender and cultural stereotypes abound: the Norse king’s masculinist insistence on bearing a son prompts him to mistreat his wife; the Cherokee Indian who comes to Orkney to woo a princess arrives with a troupe of dancing bears and leaves in a magic canoe; and a Sikh prince from India wears a “fat orange turban” and a cashmere rug. In the end, compulsory heterosexuality reigns, and even the women who seem to have options don’t. The watercolor images will help readers imagine the unimaginable plots, but they add little to the stories.
A disappointing affirmation of the status quo . (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911115-31-1
Page Count: 122
Publisher: Cassava Republic Press
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
After Castro’s takeover, nine-year-old Julian and his older brothers are sent away by their fearful parents via “Operation Pedro Pan” to a camp in Miami for Cuban-exile children. Here he discovers that a ruthless bully has essentially been put in charge. Julian is quicker-witted than his brothers or anyone else ever imagined, though, and with his inherent smarts, developing maturity and the help of child and adult friends, he learns to navigate the dynamics of the camp and surroundings and grows from the former baby of the family to independence and self-confidence. A daring rescue mission at the end of the novel will have readers rooting for Julian even as it opens his family’s eyes to his courage and resourcefulness. This autobiographical novel is a well-meaning, fast-paced and often exciting read, though at times the writing feels choppy. It will introduce readers to a not-so-distant period whose echoes are still felt today and inspire admiration for young people who had to be brave despite frightening and lonely odds. (Historical fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59643-168-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
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