An inventive book that offers wit, eccentric worldbuilding, and a look at magic’s dark side.
In Grolic’s middle-grade fantasy, a young girl is caught up in a threat to London’s hidden world of magic.
The author pulls readers in from the start with a description of the mysterious, soon-to-open Extraordinary Curiosities shop, located on a narrow London lane. When 11-year-old Chloe Ashley ducks into the place after school to avoid the rain, she’s surprised to find tiny, pointy-eared folk, tidying up and arranging shelves of oddities. After Chloe meets the magician proprietors of the shop—Mr. Ixworth (short and tweedy, “with one of those funny ‘I’ve a bit of chocolate on my lip’ moustaches”) and tall, nattily dressed Mr. Maddox (who’s never “one to use one word when two would do”)—it’s clear that her life will never be the same. Thrilled to discover that magic is real, Chloe is clued into wondrous merchandise that’s ordinarily shown only to magicians, including a magical flying taxi, spectacles that reveal “the paths of the departed,” and a “Memory Desk” for the forgetful. She becomes a welcome visitor to the shop and, before long, Mr. Maddox’s apprentice. One day, after Chloe is followed by a skeletal man with sharklike teeth, she finds that Mr. Ixworth is nowhere to be found. His nemesis, Oswin Blythe, is suspected of being behind other disappearances, but could there be a different, more horrific explanation? The author increases the momentum and the stakes of the story by widening the world of magicians, showing how they occupy strictly bordered realms, which they can lose through death, departure, or intrigue. Clever magical elements pepper the plot, including a spell-conjured pond, magic-detecting fish, travel via hat-rack, and comical and deadly potions. The character of Chloe, meanwhile, retains a relatable, human dimension; readers will relate to her plight as an outsider at school and as a daughter of busy parents who don’t take much notice of her, and this characterization gives believable weight to later, life-threatening tests of her intelligence and inner strength. Luckily, the author leaves some questions unanswered, making room for a sequel.
An inventive book that offers wit, eccentric worldbuilding, and a look at magic’s dark side.Pub Date: May 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781738870707
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 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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