Despite some contradictory plot details, a message of empathy is delivered with quirky charm.
In Allen’s chapter book, a little basement-dwelling monster hopes to find acceptance in the human world.
There’s a secret in the basement of the 150-year-old Marymount Mansion, and only the septuagenarian owner, Celeste, knows what it is: families of monsters live there. Celeste is their friend, keeping them safe from discovery (they do attend her Halloween party every year, since her guests assume they’re wearing costumes). But 8-year-old monster Toby, who has “furry green skin” and smells like cotton candy, wants to see more of the world outside the basement. (Goodwin’s cartoony black-and-white spot illustrations accompany the text here and there, with Toby depicted as a bucket-shaped figure with froggy eyes and skinny legs.) There are a few inconsistencies in its messaging, but this fantasy story offers a fanciful and compassionate approach to being “different.” Young readers will root for the courageous Toby as curiosity about the human world drives his quest to be free to be himself there, convinced that “we should be able to get along with others who aren’t exactly like us.” His courage and curiosity lead to him befriending a huge, lonely monster, so different that he even scares other monsters, and to an outing trick-or-treating and fitting in with costumed human kids. The narrative balances Toby’s good experiences with a scary encounter with a teenage human bully, followed by the little monster’s confidence-building realization that humans have many differences, too, from skin colors to the glasses some of them wear and the way they dress. Celeste is a bit problematic in her role as the monsters’ affectionate protector: She brings them cookies, considers them family, and attends their weddings and births, yet leaves their basement home “dark and dank” and short on “elbow room” (elsewhere, the basement is inconsistently described as big enough to have areas that Toby’s family never explored, including the lair of Toby’s sad, giant monster friend).
Despite some contradictory plot details, a message of empathy is delivered with quirky charm.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780996102940
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Asd Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 14, 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
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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