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TRANSFORMED

Name: TRANSFORMED
Author: Megan Morrison
ISBN: 978-1-338-11392-1

THE PERILS OF THE FROG PRINCE

From the Tyme series , Vol. 3

by Megan Morrison ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2019

As a stand-alone or as part of the Tyme series, eminently worthwhile.

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After selfish Prince Syrah is transformed into a frog, he becomes a better person.

Eighth and youngest child of the king of the Olive Isles, handsome, effortlessly athletic Syrah is vain, inconsiderate, uncaring, and rude. As a joke he kisses Delicata Gourd from neighboring Yellow Country. But it wasn’t a joke to serious, sincere Deli, who writes Syrah a love letter in return. Syrah’s response? Harshly rejecting her. A year later, Syrah’s interested in Deli, but she (understandably and wisely) rejects him. Incensed, Syrah makes Deli’s love letter public. Rather than face the consequences of his dishonorable actions, Syrah runs off, makes an incautious wish, and is transformed into a frog. Fifteen months and many adventures later, the third-person narration chronicles frog Syrah’s slow recognition of his flaws even as he simultaneously works to uncover dangerous secrets that threaten Yellow Country. He teams up with the only person he can communicate with, Harrow Steelcut, Deli’s former suitor. Their eventual triumph is satisfying, but the friendship that blooms between the two former enemies and Syrah’s internal transformation are the most gratifying of all. The abundance of brown-skinned characters, including all three principals, is great to see in a fantasy. Morrison deftly chronicles Syrah’s changing heart—a believably long and nuanced journey—and retools both “The Frog Prince”and other fairy tales in interesting, original, and grim ways.

As a stand-alone or as part of the Tyme series, eminently worthwhile. (Fantasy. 10-14)

Pub Date: March 26, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-338-11392-1

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Levine/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

- BOOK REVIEW
DISENCHANTED
by Megan Morrison

- BOOK REVIEW
GROUNDED
by Megan Morrison

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SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS

by Jack Cheng ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2017

Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.

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If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?

For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.

Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MANY MASKS OF ANDY ZHOU
by Jack Cheng ; illustrated by Jack Cheng

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THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL

From the School for Good and Evil series , Vol. 1

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.

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Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.

Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)