Diverting enough as clean escapist fare, but it could have been so much more.
The second entry in a Christian fantasy series scores high on action and adventure but strikes out when presenting the quieter aspects of religious experience.
Jonah Stone and his siblings are still grappling with the discovery that their mother is one of the nephilim, offspring of fallen angels and humans. With their angelic gifts as “quarterlings,” they had rescued their mother and the other nephilim from the Fallen last year. Now all 13 known quarterlings are in hiding, receiving training in angelic combat and spiritual disciplines. But even the formidable power of prayer can’t shield them from the servants of Abbadon. When Jonah has visions of a modern-day prophet in peril, he has to risk everything to follow the will of Elohim. There’s plenty to enjoy here: genuinely likable young characters who can also be authentically silly, frightened and cranky; a praiseworthy effort at gender and ethnic diversity; and a snappy narrative pace that delivers thrilling suspense without ever becoming too scary or graphically violent. Unfortunately, this presentation of Christianity also gives short shrift to humble service or inner spirituality. When prayers become formulaic magic spells to summon superpowers and Elohim is explicitly deemed more worthy of allegiance than Abbadon because of superior firepower, there is a risk of turning faith into just another fantasy video game.
Diverting enough as clean escapist fare, but it could have been so much more. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-1400318452
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
A beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot.
In sixth grade, Izzy Mancini’s cozy, loving world falls apart.
She and her family have moved out of the cottage she grew up in. Her mother has spent the summer on Block Island instead of at home with Izzy. Her father has recently returned from military service in Afghanistan partially paralyzed and traumatized. The only people she can count on are Zelda and Piper, her best friends since kindergarten—that is, until the Haidary family moves into the upstairs apartment. At first, Izzy resents the new guests from Afghanistan even though she knows she should be grateful that Dr. Haidary saved her father’s life. But despite her initial resistance (which manifests at times as racism), as Izzy gets to know Sitara, the Haidarys’ daughter, she starts to question whether Zelda and Piper really are her friends for forever—and whether she has the courage to stand up for Sitara against the people she loves. Ferruolo weaves a rich setting, fully immersing readers in the largely white, coastal town of Seabury, Rhode Island. Disappointingly, the story resolves when Izzy convinces her classmates to accept Sitara by revealing the Haidarys’ past as American allies, a position that put them in so much danger that they had to leave home. The idea that Sitara should be embraced only because her family supported America, rather than simply because she is a human being, significantly undermines the purported message of tolerance for all.
A beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-30909-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hands readers a meaningful new take on family love.
Nathan, a young Navajo boy from Phoenix, Arizona, goes on an epic hero’s journey.
On the surface, 11-year-old Nathan is like many other boys. His parents are divorced, and he’s a little upset with his father. His paternal grandmother, Nali, is supportive, and he’s eager to spend the summer with her on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico, working on his science fair project. Nathan moves into her rural home, expecting a quiet summer. Instead, he has the adventure of a lifetime when he discovers something is eating Nali’s heirloom seeds. Wandering into the desert, he encounters Pond, an ailing water monster. Adults cannot see Holy Beings from the creation stories, but as a child, Nathan can; with the help of a communication stone, he enters a world of Navajo cosmology. He brings a message to his grandmother about the Enemy Way and helps his Uncle Jet, a traumatized Marine veteran skeptical about his family’s traditional ways, who is haunted by the shadow voice of an Ash Being. Healing—for the earth, the water monster, and Uncle Jet—is on the line as Nathan travels to the Third World to meet the most sacred Holy Being of all. The deeply grounded and original perspective of this story brings readers into both the worlds of Navajo blessing songs, rain songs, and traditional healing and everyday family relationships.
Hands readers a meaningful new take on family love. (glossary, author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-299040-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Heartdrum
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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