Extraordinary characters headline this brisk, unputdownable SF romp.
Tweens and an otherworldly robot may be a small town’s only defense against a planet-destroying alien in Friday’s debut middle-grade novel.
A bizarre purple glowing object flying through the dense woods near her Oregon home unnerves 11-year-old Mattie James. She’s reluctant to call it a UFO, or to even mention aliens, but she’s still eager to know what’s out there. Surely, her best friend, Nova Diaz, and the new kid in school, Parker Wu (who has a drone), can help her find out. But the kids—soon joined by Nova’s twin sister and aspiring social media influencer Rora—find much more than they anticipated: a fight between aliens with a strange robot in the mix. The confrontation ends with the robot damaged and missing nearly all of its memory. Mattie and Nova, members of their middle school’s robotics club, think they may be able to fix “Cache,” as Nova dubs the robot. The tweens want to make sure that Earth is safe from an extraterrestrial creature that Cache claims is powerful enough to annihilate the planet (“This situation is suboptimal”), but covert alien-hunting government agents may foil their plans. Friday’s story boasts a wonderfully diverse cast, including Auntie Taj, a 3-D animator watching her beloved niece Mattie while the girl’s parents are away; Rora, who, quite unlike her sister, is one of the most popular kids in school; and the intriguing aliens, both good and evil. The story makes room for several nods to SF pop culture, especially the Star Wars franchise (there’s a broken robot in a backpack and a crucial hologram recording). It’s all in service of a boisterous narrative (boasting stellar action sequences) of friends sticking together. It’s convincing, too; Mattie, Nova, and the others are realistically aware of their skill sets and their limits as they overcome such obstacles as nosy government types and school detention.
Extraordinary characters headline this brisk, unputdownable SF romp.Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2024
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
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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