An engrossing but somewhat uneven tale about grief, ghosts, and the power of memory.
A lonely girl embarks on a quest to help her late grandmother.
When 12-year-old Eliot Katayama’s family moves from California to Roseheart, Maine, her parents want a fresh start, but Eliot is still grieving the death of Babung, her beloved paternal grandmother, and struggling with the dementia that stole Babung’s memories before she died. Although her parents urge her to move on, Eliot fears Babung is lonely and confused in the afterlife without her memories; she hopes to prove ghosts are real and reconnect with her. Meeting neighbor Mrs. Delvaux and her granddaughter, Hazel, is the opportunity she’s been waiting for: Their home is rumored to be haunted, and local kids believe Mrs. Delvaux is a soul-stealing witch. Indeed, Eliot soon discovers ghosts in the house, but why are they stuck there? Why have they lost their memories, preventing them from crossing to the other side? As she attempts to help these ghosts recall who they are, Eliot juggles growing romantic feelings for Hazel, parents who don’t take her seriously, and encounters with a fearsome monster, all while continuing to try to reach Babung. Although the novel ends on a satisfactory note, the plot is disjointed at times, and some characters feel flat. Richer details about Babung and Eliot’s relationship would have made Eliot’s obsessive quest more understandable for readers. Eliot’s father and grandmother are Japanese American from Hawaii; her mother is racially ambiguous.
An engrossing but somewhat uneven tale about grief, ghosts, and the power of memory. (Paranormal. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-374-31377-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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