A fun, fast-moving adventure with plenty to say about courage, friendship, and responsibility.
In Snoad’s middle-grade fantasy debut, a troubled girl joins a secret organization charged with protecting the Earth from otherworldly incursions.
Twelve-year-old student Margaret “Maggie” Elizabeth Thatcher is named after two powerful women—the former queen of England and one of its former prime ministers. Maggie herself, however, feels anything but formidable. Her life-threatening food allergies limit what she can eat, and her brain compulsively fixates on everything that might go wrong in life. It is only with the help of her best friend, New Zealand–born Anahira Waititi, that Maggie can cope with everyday challenges—let alone the more arduous activities of the Wayfinder Girls apocalypse training camp. Maggie would be naturally inclined to find the camp scary, but she is particularly unsettled when she spots a green-skinned person looking down at her from a nearby tree. Maggie and Anahira are invited by camp leader Lady Marie Studfall to join the Guardians, a clandestine unit whose job it is to send alien intruders back to their own worlds. Maggie isn’t sure she truly belongs in the Guardians, but when she accidentally strikes a bargain with two sports-loving Fae called Tylwyth and Teg (“I couldn’t quite match creatures of Faerie with football fandom, but it was just my luck to get landed with both”), suddenly the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance. The author tells Maggie’s story through straightforward, effective prose and dialogue. Maggie is, in large part, defined by what her mum refers to as her “special needs,” but this emphasis serves less to pigeonhole her than to emphasize how all-consuming such requirements can be. Maggie is a very real protagonist, plagued by self-doubt yet quietly determined and generous of spirit. The story moves quickly despite plenty of exposition and little detail omitted. The Fae duo, though representative of dark forces, are played for light comedy. A handful of full-page black-and-white illustrations serve to emphasize the fantasy element and the scale of Maggie’s trials. She and her fellow Guardians should garner plenty of fans.
A fun, fast-moving adventure with plenty to say about courage, friendship, and responsibility.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781957656120
Page Count: 236
Publisher: Monarch Educational Services, L.L.C.
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 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
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