A magical, moving celebration of sisterly bonds.
The eldest of three sisters undergoes a change in an enchanted forest.
Margot, Kyra, and Janna are on their way to spend two weeks with their Gran at the edge of the Frygea Forest. It’s Margot’s last summer before high school, and she’s beginning to change in ways that confuse and frighten middle sister Kyra. Mom leaves with the classic warning not to wander too deep into the forest, so naturally the girls do just that, facing trolls, Hellhounds, and, most powerful of all, the Fog Furies, which seem intent on stealing Margot away—and Margot seems to want to go, baffling Kyra, who is determined to save her. When Margot gets her period (which steady Gran handles in a positive, straightforward manner), the puberty metaphor becomes clear: Margot is transforming in real-world ways as well as magical ones. The three fair-skinned sisters have distinct personalities: Tall, long-haired Margot wants to read her vampire romance novel; stout Kyra is stubborn and brave; and Janna, with her dark hair in puffy pigtails, is oblivious to the drama as she befriends tiny Root Goblins. Though the puberty/magic metaphor isn’t always that compelling, the depiction of the sisters’ relationship will hold readers’ attention, as will the illustrations. Beautiful, watercolorlike art employs warm colors for indoor and garden scenes and spooky blues and greens for the deep forest; the Fog Furies are translucent swirls of pale gray, with human faces and elongated bodies.
A magical, moving celebration of sisterly bonds. (Graphic fantasy. 10-15)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-83874-074-0
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
Fast-paced dragon flights and mid-space fights—plus underdog heroes who are easy to root for.
A tenacious 13-year-old battles to save Mars, the only home he knows, in this series opener.
Lunar Jones, called “Dad” by the other orphans at the understaffed, underfunded Martian Relocation Clinic, is a scrapper in the dying Mars settlement, which is ironically named Harvest. Although the atmosphere supports human life, Martian plants, animals, and weather pose threats to survival, and the salvagers risk their lives with every expedition. A century ago, people killed Ares, Mars’ King-Dragon, hoping to make the planet “a paradise. A second version of Earth.” But that plan backfired. After a bloody attack by a rival salvage group, Lunar regains consciousness in an underground bunker, under the care of Gen. John Poppy, who’s secretly rearing a dragon named Dread. Poppy has rallied a group of young people with assorted special skills. Soon Dread will choose his dragoon, the human he bonds with for life. In the world of the story, which is reminiscent of Mad Max and Star Trek, each celestial body has its own dragon avatar. The backstory is fairly well developed, and the short chapters are packed with action. Lunar and some other key characters show positive growth, while the minor characters feel more like types. Lunar presents white; there’s some diversity in race among the supporting cast.
Fast-paced dragon flights and mid-space fights—plus underdog heroes who are easy to root for. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665946513
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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