A fairy tale for discerning adults who appreciate solid story structure, compelling human characters and inventive fantasy.
A fantasy tale from McCloskey that fleshes out the archetypal hero’s journey with interplanetary travel, fearsome nemeses and one delightfully logical wizard.
The Crescent Knight nears the completion of his quest to the storied Far Coast. However, no sooner does he look upon the floating, magnificent House of Yeel than a winged, cat-bodied, snake-tongued beast viciously bats him off his precipice. Jymoor, a scout, tries next. Where many travelers have failed, she successfully enters the otherworldly house in the sky to request Yeel’s help for her people—and she offers herself as a sacrifice if necessary. A jabbering, self-described alchemist, Yeel only agrees to help Jymoor’s war-torn nation of Riken when he learns that enemy forces are burning their libraries. Unbeknownst to his houseguest, Yeel is a tentacled alien who wears the disguise of an elderly sorcerer. Early in the journey to Riken, Yeel neutralizes the curious keeper of harapins—one harapin besieged the Crescent Knight and many have long enforced Yeel’s home-imprisonment. When Yeel raids the keeper’s abode for artifacts, he discovers the Crescent Knight, who’s been a slave to the keeper for years. After slaying a supernatural serpent and thereby freeing its victims—ages-old Riken citizens who had turned to stone—Yeel defends himself from the Crescent Knight, who actually approached the Far Coast with a goal, not of supplication, but murder. When Yeel gives Jymoor slumber-replacement pills, she is able to tirelessly realm-hop and quickly refine her battle skills. These traits add interest for the reader. The entire party reaches Riken without a single lapse into the tedium of the cookie-cutter quests of fantasy. Having arrived, Jymoor introduces Yeel to the skeptical King Aruscetar and helps Yeel convince the king that an interrealm alliance is expedient to Riken’s freedom. Again calling on the structural and stylistic creativity that kept the arduous road trip to Riken engaging, McCloskey invigorates the closing three-pronged battle sequence with elements of intrigue, humor and surprise.
A fairy tale for discerning adults who appreciate solid story structure, compelling human characters and inventive fantasy.Pub Date: April 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-1475064025
Page Count: 262
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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