A sweet second helping that will leave readers hungry for more
The Logroño family is preparing for the arrival of the Magi on Día de los Reyes, but surprise visitors throw a wrench in the works in Meriano’s sequel to A Dash of Trouble (2018).
After the fiasco around Día de Muertos, Leo has finally been initiated into the family bruja tradition and has begun her apprenticeship in the culinary and magical arts. As the winter holiday break wanes, Leo feels pulled in too many directions: by her mother’s expectations, her sisters’ advice, and the desire to maintain friendships despite her family’s secrets. When she is awakened one morning by the corporeal spirit, she knows something terrible must be amiss and worries that her untrained magical abilities might be the cause. Her abuela has not crossed over alone, however; at least five others with unfinished business have arrived in Rose Hill ahead of Día de los Reyes, leaving trails of marigold petals in their wakes. Leo must find balance between family and friendships in order to return the spirits to el Otro Lado before they are cursed to wander, like La Llorona. Meriano’s magical contemporary world is steeped in Latinx culture, and though Leo faces fantastical complications, her struggle to find her place is a universal adolescent experience. Leo and her family are Mexican-American and live in a fairly diverse small town in Texas.
A sweet second helping that will leave readers hungry for more . (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-249849-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
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 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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