A fast-paced series opener.
Dorothy wasn’t the first young girl to take an epic journey down the Yellow Brick Road.
Long before becoming the Good Witch of the South, Glinda Gavaria was a wide-eyed, red-haired white teenager from Quadling Country whose biggest worry was what career she would be forced to accept. Poised to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a seamstress, Glinda quickly learns that life in Oz is nothing like what it seems. Her mother, a seemingly benign seamstress, is actually a powerful sorceress whose revolutionary faction is trying to restore Princess Ozma to the throne, stolen from her while fighting against the four wicked witches who have a stranglehold on the four Oz kingdoms. In Fiedler’s dystopian reimagining of the Oz mythos, the country is suppressed by four wicked witches who forbid the use of magic while subjugating the citizens to the rule of a secret evil sorceress to whom the witches owe their allegiance. While this novel stands alone on its own merits, readers familiar with Baum’s original series will enjoy spending time with famous characters such as the malevolent Mombi and Nick Chopper midway through his transformation into the Tin Woodsman. The author crafts an intricate world filled with excitement and magical creatures, but unfortunately Glinda’s character does not fully crystallize before she is swept up in her adventure.
A fast-paced series opener. (Fantasy. 12-17)Pub Date: May 16, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6971-5
Page Count: 432
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
The sardonic tone of the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism...
Edgar Award–winning Riordan leaves the adult world of mystery to begin a fantasy series for younger readers.
Twelve-year-old Percy (full name, Perseus) Jackson has attended six schools in six years. Officially diagnosed with ADHD, his lack of self-control gets him in trouble again and again. What if it isn’t his fault? What if all the outrageous incidents that get him kicked out of school are the result of his being a “half-blood,” the product of a relationship between a human and a Greek god? Could it be true that his math teacher Mrs. Dodds transformed into a shriveled hag with bat wings, a Fury, and was trying to kill him? Did he really vanquish her with a pen that turned into a sword? One need not be an expert in Greek mythology to enjoy Percy’s journey to retrieve Zeus’s master bolt from the Underworld, but those who are familiar with the deities and demi-gods will have many an ah-ha moment. Along the way, Percy and his cohort run into Medusa, Cerberus and Pan, among others.
The sardonic tone of the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism that questions the realities of our world, family, friendship and loyalty. (Fantasy. 12-15)Pub Date: July 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7868-5629-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2005
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The Potternaut rolls on, picking up more size than speed but propelling 15-year-old Harry through more hard tests of character and magical ability. Rowling again displays her ability to create both likable and genuinely scary characters, most notable among the latter being a pair of Dementors who accost Harry in a dark alley in the opening chapter. Even more horrible, Ministry of Magic functionary Dolores Umbridge descends upon Hogwarts with a tinkly laugh, a taste in office decor that runs to kitten paintings, and the authority, soon exercised, to torture students, kick Harry off the Quidditch team, fire teachers, and even to challenge Dumbledore himself. Afflicted with sudden fits of adolescent rage, Harry also has worries, from upcoming exams and recurrent eerie dreams to the steadfast refusal of the Magical World's bureaucracy to believe that Voldemort has returned. Steadfast allies remain, including Hermione, whose role here is largely limited to Chief Explainer, and a ragtag secret order of adults formed to protect him from dangers, which they characteristically keep to themselves until he finds out about them the hard way. Constructed, like Goblet of Fire, of multiple, weakly connected plot lines and rousing, often hilarious set pieces, all set against a richly imagined backdrop, this involves its characters once again in plenty of adventures while moving them a step closer to maturity. And it's still impossible to predict how it's all going to turn out.
None (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: July 1, 2003
ISBN: 9780439358064
Page Count: 896
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2003
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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