A lightly developed read that may appeal to avid fans of the long-running franchise.
Five teens are chosen to protect their town from an alien vendetta in this story set in the world of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Trini Kwan has carefully cultivated her studious, “quiet Asian girl” persona at school, hiding her frustration when students take advantage of her hard work, underestimate her, or bully her friend Billy. Despite years of martial arts training with Nai Nai, her grandmother, she hides her true strength. Then her school’s Homecoming game is attacked by Goldar, a furry blue monster with gold armor, and the Putties, his clay minions. Even as most kids flee, Billy, football captain Jason, popular new cheerleader Kimberly, and Trini’s former best friend, Zack, rush to help two trapped students—and Trini joins them. The five teens are chosen by “galactic warrior scholar” Zordon to become the Power Rangers; Trini is named the Yellow Ranger. Ma adds new dimensions to the original story through the inclusion of Chinese mythology and explorations of racial stereotyping and Trini’s struggle with an inner voice that tells her to hide her true self. While the tone of the writing and the treatment of intriguing themes—strong women, power and responsibility, friendship, and self-control—skew young and lack complexity, the slow-burn romance is believable and grounded in a rebuilt friendship. Trini is of Chinese Taiwanese and Korean Chinese descent, Zack is Black, and other main characters read white.
A lightly developed read that may appeal to avid fans of the long-running franchise. (Adventure. 12-14)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781419757761
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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