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
Powerful and awakening.
A 14-year-old Ashkenazi Jewish transgender boy harnesses supernatural powers and pursues his world-saving destiny.
Every week, A Izenson’s parents drag him to Save Our Sons and Daughters, a conversion-therapy group for families with transgender youth. Not many teens last long there before they disappear for “further treatment.” After Greek American group member Yarrow, one of A’s only friends, meets this fate, A sneaks over to Yarrow’s house to find out what happened. When he’s caught eavesdropping on Yarrow’s parents, a being made of garbage sweeps in to aid his escape. The creature describes itself as a golem, though its origins are a mystery. All the golem knows is that it awoke to help A fulfill his destiny to save Yarrow—and the world—before the end of Yom Kippur. At first, A is certain the golem has chosen the wrong person. But when he rescues his friend Sal, a white butch lesbian trans girl, from a demon who tries to devour her during a SOSAD meeting, he not only embraces his power, but also starts to see himself as a hero and Sal as his sidekick. Lukoff both explores and then subverts the chosen-one trope through A’s battle with his personal demons. The story is set in 2023, and the fantasy conflict is grounded in serious real-world problems—the ongoing impact of Covid-19, alarming rates of homelessness and suicide among LGBTQ+ youth, and anti-trans legislation. The resolution is both honest and hopeful.
Powerful and awakening. (note on research, note on resources) (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593618981
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tween gets in over his head in this introspective and nostalgic story.
Thirteen-year-old Joey Goodman spends every August in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at his grandparents’ hotel.
It’s 1975, and the city is soon to become a gambling resort as old hotels are replaced with casinos. Joey’s passion is playing Skee-Ball at the boardwalk arcades. There, he attracts the attention of shady Artie Bishop, known as the king of Steel Pier, and becomes involved in Bishop’s unspecified criminal activities. Suave Artie engages Joey in conversation about the boy’s favorite book, The Once and Future King, and Joey begins to regard him almost as a new King Arthur. Artie offers him a job chaperoning his daughter, Melanie, when she comes to visit. After Joey finishes his unpaid waiter’s shift at the hotel restaurant each day, he lies to his family, meets Melanie, and they explore the piers’ seedy amusements. Joey falls for 15-year-old Melanie, and she regards him fondly but is attracted to his older brother Reuben. The close-knit Jewish family of four bickering brothers, parents, uncle, and grandparents (especially wise grandpa Zeyde) is lovingly portrayed. The descriptions of Joey’s ponderings about God (he’s had his bar mitzvah but is undecided) and Artie’s business dealings may not hold young readers’ interest, and the immersive setting could appeal more to adults old enough to remember the time and place. All characters are presumed White.
A tween gets in over his head in this introspective and nostalgic story. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72843-034-8
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
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