A brief fantasy tale that may appeal to readers who aren’t usually fans of the genre.
An 11-year-old girl falls into a parallel world of fantastical creatures in this illustrated novel for readers.
Kindhearted, book-loving Sarah is resolved to make the best of her family’s move from New York City to her parents’ dream home in rural Connecticut. While exploring the shed in the backyard, she discovers Vesper, a gnome that she inadvertently revives from a frozen statue state, and is compelled to follow him back to his homeland, which is plagued by a struggle between his fellow gnomes and their presumed enemies, the trolls. Plot-driven chapters that emphasize characters over worldbuilding will draw a variety of readers into this adventure, and straightforward, humorous third-person narration keeps the twisting, turning story moving. Though character development is minimal, the situations that are presented allow Sarah’s empathy and understanding to take on a pivotal importance in a way that feels fairly natural, if a bit unsubtle in its messaging. Black-and-white vignettes are interspersed throughout, providing fuzzy, soft-edged imagery for the creatures. The humanoid beings in the story seem to assume a white default, and there are no textual details about Sarah’s race or culture, though her surname is Arroyo, suggesting that her family may be of Hispanic descent.
A brief fantasy tale that may appeal to readers who aren’t usually fans of the genre. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-947159-59-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Red Chair Press
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
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.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
File under “laugh riot.”
A rogue spell-check program’s bid to transform all life-forms into that eminently useful office item, the paper clip, touches off a fresh round of lunar lunacy.
Predicated on the entirely reasonable premise that eliminating all spelling and grammar errors everywhere would logically lead to the necessity of exterminating carbon-based life in the universe, this third series entry combines high stakes with daffy banter and daring exploits. CheckMate—a chipper, jumped-up editing program—has invented the Transmogratron, a giant laser that will fulfill its ultimate goals in both the cyber world and “meatspace.” Facing challenges as random as prankster lunar unicorns and a disarmingly motherly Motherboard, scowling First Cat joins a motley crew of diversely carbon- and silicon-based allies, led by the pearlescent Queen of the Moon. They’re in a race to the finish—diverted occasionally by, for instance, a relentlessly punny comic-book interlude featuring a pair of literal and figurative Pool Sharks. They ultimately triumph thanks to teamwork and moxie. Following a celebratory party and toasts to “new friends…and steadfast comrades” (and, of course, “MEOW”), the story’s energetic, brightly colored panels close with a reveal of the next volume. (“I always hate it when comics end by announcing a sequel. SO CRINGE!” declares an authorial stand-in.) It can’t come too soon.
File under “laugh riot.” (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063315280
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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