A somewhat overstuffed coming-of-age tale, but one with plenty of heart.
In Babka’s speculative historical middle-gradenovella, a life-changing event leads a boy to pursue a better future for humankind.
In the summer of 1959, 13-year-old Ben witnesses a car bomb go off in his tiny town of Twinsburg, Ohio; the explosive kills Ben’s grandfather’s mob-affiliated friend. Ben’s teenage pals Chip Dawson, Bobby Kollman, and Mark Garnett are all supportive and listen to his worries afterward while also sharing some of their own anxieties. If that wasn’t enough to keep the teens on edge, there’s been talk about the threat of atomic bombs, with duck-and-cover drills in school becoming commonplace: “None of us who actually thought about it felt re-assured,” Ben narrates. The adults say it’s not for young people to worry about. After watching a scary movie and listening to a radio broadcast about flying saucers, the boys’ imaginations start to run wild—and eventually lead them to formulate a plan to try and find aliens in Twinsburg.The kids come up with a scheme to find outer-space creatures, see what they want, and scare them away from Earth, if need be. Worried they’ll be outnumbered and overwhelmed, they recruit Isiah Robinson, a classmate who’s good with a baseball bat, which they see as a formidable weapon against alien invaders. Soon, they have an experience that changes their lives and sets them on a path to potentially changing the world. In this book, Babka ably expresses what small-town life is like, and how easily hysteria, and a lack of transparency about major events, can set young minds on grand—and potentially dangerous—adventures. The author doesn’t shy away from showing the reality of racial segregation; Isiah, who’s Black, lives in a different part of town than the other kids, who are white; the latter create a pact to stand up to local racists. While the author is clearly passionate about the town, its residents, and the period, and he provides lots of detail in his worldbuilding, more focus on the boys’ adventures and experiences would have been welcome.
A somewhat overstuffed coming-of-age tale, but one with plenty of heart.Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 978-0991060153
Page Count: 135
Publisher: Blue Squirrel Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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