A pleasing, strongly paced tale with a folkloric twist and solid social-emotional underpinnings.
In this sequel to 2024’s The Last Rhee Witch, Ronnie returns to Camp Foster for witch training and winter fun with friends—only to encounter another dangerous supernatural creature.
Korean American Ronnie arrives at camp eager to learn some new spells. She’s dismayed to discover that last summer’s friends have kept in touch with each other through social media, which her father has forbidden her to use until she’s older, leaving her feeling like an outsider. She’s also shocked to learn that the camp (which is run by her late mom’s coven sisters, Ms. Hana, Ms. Akemi, Ms. Pavani, and Ms. Lia) is being visited by a gumiho—a shape-shifting, trickster fox spirit from Korean folklore. The gumiho beguilingly promises to fulfill people’s deepest desires in exchange for measures of their gi, or life force, which it desperately needs. Along with absorbingly ratcheting up the lively narrative’s tension on the way to an eerily lit climax beneath a lunar eclipse, Lee-Yun offers a genuine path to resolving conflicts equitably through Ronnie’s recognition that some give-and-take must happen on both sides. This insight serves her well: By the end, not only has the gumiho become a sympathetic (even cutely appealing) character, but Ronnie and her friends are tighter than ever. Names and other contextual clues point to a racially and culturally diverse supporting cast.
A pleasing, strongly paced tale with a folkloric twist and solid social-emotional underpinnings. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781368100984
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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