Adventurous, plot-driven mayhem.
During a quest to try to save her brother, a girl must confront her fears about living up to her family’s legacy.
Bold and brave Anna can’t wait to turn 13 and join her family of witch hunters in Witchless, Indiana, “the Cryptid Capital of the USA.” But her twin brother, Billy, faces the curse of all boys in the Grimsbane family: being home-schooled from age 13 and overprotected in order to avoid the curse of “a horrible, miserable death.” Determined to avoid this fate by breaking the curse, Billy sets off on an adventure on the eve of their birthday, thus setting up a ticking clock that runs down in each chapter, building a satisfying suspense. Worried about Billy’s ability to survive the threats he faces, Anna (who’s cued white) convinces her best friends, Suvi Kumar and Rosario Ortiz-Rivera, that Billy’s fate depends on their actions, and the trio go on a mission to save him. With everything to lose, Anna finds her confidence and skills tested as they face a wild array of threats from all directions including cryptids, a witch known as the Watcher (who’s evaded the Grimsbanes for generations), and more. Regularly saved by the empathic Rosario, who has two moms, Anna confronts unexpected family revelations during her journey. Although the characterization feels less than organic, this spooky, fast-paced read is engaging.
Adventurous, plot-driven mayhem. (Paranormal. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781665929561
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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