A solid, engaging tale about two friends with mental powers.
Two tweens use their psychic abilities to make the world a better place.
Wallace’s middle-grade novel opens on Glennie Crowe’s eighth birthday when she wakes up ready to meet her long-awaited Newfoundland puppy, Patsy. Canadian farm child Glennie has an affinity for animals, and although she is disappointed to learn that Patsy needs to spend another week at a neighboring farm, learning to eat solid food, she quickly adapts and celebrates the day with her family. Glennie has also decided that her birthday is the time to tell her best friend, Reggie, that she has the ability to understand the thoughts of Patsy and other animals (“I communicate perfectly with every single animal on our farm. That’s why I look at them in the eye every time I see them and say silly phrases to them”). Reggie shares a secret of his own: He has premonitions, which is why he was able to anticipate his grandmother’s recent stroke and call for help. Reggie’s uncle Bert helps the two understand their abilities and encourages them to find ways to help others with them. Gradually, the tweens establish a connection with Jimmy Wilson, an unpopular boy at school, and help his unemployed father find work. The two protagonists’ mental powers come in handy again during their summer vacation, when a ferry ride turns dangerous and when the pair and Glennie’s siblings discover human bones buried on an island. The book’s short chapters and straightforward prose style make it appropriate for readers close to Glennie’s age. Wallace’s black-and-white illustrations that appear throughout—particularly the drawings of Patsy as she quickly grows—do an excellent job of complementing the story. The plot is rather episodic, and although the closing pages summarize the tale’s events and resolve outstanding plot threads, there is little connection between, for instance, Jimmy’s redemption and the high drama of the summer vacation. Still, the novel deftly presents a contemporary setting with minimal screens or phones without drawing attention to their absence, making it likely to appeal to adults looking to minimize the presence of technology in children’s reading.
A solid, engaging tale about two friends with mental powers.Pub Date: May 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5255-6295-2
Page Count: 180
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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