BALTHAZAR FABULOSO IN THE LAIR OF THE HUMBUGS

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BALTHAZAR FABULOSO IN THE LAIR OF THE HUMBUGS

Name: BALTHAZAR FABULOSO IN THE LAIR OF THE HUMBUGS
Author: I.J. Brindle
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3577-7

by I.J. Brindle ; illustrated by Sholto Walker ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2016

Sleight of hand behind this bag of tricks is all too slight, no magic here.

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When his stage-magician family vanishes for real, can Balthazar find them?

The Fabulosos may perform on stage, but they also have real magic…all except Balthazar; he’s normal, and he wishes his family were. Hoping he will blossom late, his parents are positive and encouraging, but they are wrapped up in the family business. At a Christmas performance at the dinner theater where they work, they are heckled by rival magic family the Fistulas—and they disappear. A social worker leaves Balthazar with his wayward uncle, Ignatius. When the Fistulas disappear too (after taking over the dinner theater), their magic-using daughter, Pagan, joins the hunt for the missing magicians. Evidence mounts that someone is using anti-magical Gloaming, but will the International Brotherhood of Real Stage Magic help, or is the trio on their own? With references above the ken of the target audience and a few plot missteps, scriptwriter Brindle’s debut fizzles like damp magician’s powder. Balthazar is a passable Everykid, but the world around him never jells, nor is the tension tense. Pagan’s occasional between-chapter “Log Entries” are unfunny and unnecessary. Judging by Walker’s illustrations, the Fabulosos and Fistulas are white.

Sleight of hand behind this bag of tricks is all too slight, no magic here. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Pub Date: May 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-8234-3577-7

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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THE LION OF LARK-HAYES MANOR

by Aubrey Hartman ; illustrated by Christopher Cyr ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023

A pleasing premise for book lovers.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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TUCK EVERLASTING

by Natalie Babbitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1975

However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...

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At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.

Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.

However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the first week in August when this takes place to "the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning") help to justify the extravagant early assertion that had the secret about to be revealed been known at the time of the action, the very earth "would have trembled on its axis like a beetle on a pin." (Fantasy. 9-11)