A fast-paced, heartwarming read.
A boy finds himself in peril when he investigates the constant rain plaguing his city.
The city of Roan endures rain daily: 47 types in all, from a gentle wib to a life-threatening blanderwheel. Eleven-year-old Oscar Buckle is an umbrella maker’s son, which should come in handy. But business isn’t exactly booming; people prefer the shoddy but inexpensive umbrellas manufactured by Brawn Industries over Bilius Buckle’s durable but pricey creations. When Bilius informs Oscar he must leave school and become his apprentice, he is dismayed; he wants to carve wooden figures, not craft umbrellas. Even worse, Saige Cleverer, his best friend, is moving to the rich—and mysteriously sunny—part of town for her dad’s new job with Brawn Industries. Is there something sinister behind the precipitation deluging Oscar’s neighborhood? The worldbuilding, much of which occurs in wry footnotes provided by an unnamed narrator, relies heavily on the quirky names and vocabulary. Saige, a wheelchair user, lives up to her surname, designing a jet pack and a wheelchair flotation device to circumvent barriers. Readers may quickly guess what’s up, and the ending is somewhat anticlimactic after the narrator’s dramatic foreshadowing. However, Oscar and Saige’s friendship is believably portrayed, and Oscar’s relationship with his single dad is touching, as are his complex feelings about his mother’s death. Oscar and his dad read White; Saige has brown skin, and secondary characters are racially diverse. Final art not seen.
A fast-paced, heartwarming read. (glossary) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9780316470872
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
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
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
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