A winsome environmental yarn that will surely leave readers craving further adventures.
In Klisanin’s middle-grade SF novel, tween friends who’ve vowed to save the future embark on a mission in the Amazon rainforest.
In this sequel to the author’s Future Hack(2023), tween student Lexa knows of an impending mass extinction event thanks to Norbu, a time traveler from the future who appeared to her as a “holographic blue boy.” She and her pals Jack, Sage, and Will have resolved to undertake a “series of critical missions” to thwart this catastrophe. With one mission down, their next stop is the Amazon to investigate the disappearances of jaguars. With their parents’ permission, the four kids go alone (they do have a self-driving van that transforms into an airship). Lexa and the others brave dangerous rainforest wildlife and merciless poachers to find the jaguars, in addition to an inexplicably missing shaman. Meanwhile, at Global Anticipatory Intelligence Agency headquarters, Norbu can’t access the Time Portal, which he technically wasn’t allowed to use in the first place. This prevents him from warning his friends from the past that their tech may soon be inoperable and no help at all. Klisanin delivers an impactful environmental message organically fused with a diverting adventure. The story aptly spotlights the culture of Indigenous people (the Achuar) and makes clear that the rainforest’s perils are parts of the natural world. The real villain is a sinister corporation that played a crucial role in the preceding installment; this is one of many returning elements that make reading the earlier book a virtual necessity for appreciating this outing. The smart, youthful heroes are a joy to follow as they bicker (never excessively) and plausibly fail on occasion, turning setbacks into learning opportunities. Melisca Klisanin’s black-and-white artwork (incorporating green highlights for vegetation) is sublime but oddly inconsistent—there’s a mix of childlike illustrations (possibly from Sage’s sketchpad) and crisply rendered, indelible images of such animals as monkeys and a parakeet.
A winsome environmental yarn that will surely leave readers craving further adventures.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781962447171
Page Count: 220
Publisher: Genius Cat Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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
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