This riveting tale of plushy heroes has a lot of heart.
A valiant teddy bear vows to protect his Person and battles monsters under the bed in David’s middle-grade fantasy adventure.
No one is going to hurt young Mieya on Sir Buddy the Knight’s watch. The human girl is Buddy’s Person—his charge—whom he’ll defend against any Monster that crawls out from The Realm-Under-The-Bed (“it was one of only a few Places where Monsters and magic and many other fantastic things called home”). His stuffed body is a smorgasbord of battle scars (patches and stitched repairs), and he wields the magical Aura, a wooden sword that turns into steel in his paws. Although Buddy’s latest fight ends in victory, he’s still worried. Each Monster’s unique rune vanishes after a Monster is destroyed; this time, however, a Rune of Taking continues to hover over Mieya. The wise Oracle, an old dusty owl who speaks in verse, sends Buddy on a quest to track down the Queen of Sorrow in The Realm-Under-The-Bed. Joining the courageous bear is his companion, Esteban, a black emperor tamarin (a monkey sporting a long, curly white mustache) who’s never without his mandolin. The vast realm teems with assorted Monsters (such as shockingly rude unicorns) and includes a mazelike rainforest. Luckily, Buddy and Esteban have a Runic thread that will hopefully lead to the Queen, and they discover a new ally in Sasha, a stripeless white tiger and Warrior-Princess. For every Monster they must fend off, there’s usually someone, like Sasha, whom they can depend on for help. The Queen of Sorrow, meanwhile, is a formidable villain who harbors sinister motivations and a world of secrets that promise to shatter everything Buddy thought he knew.
David limns a colorful, consistently entertaining world. The Realm-Under-The-Bed, where most of the story’s action takes place, is harrowing and vividly described; the Desert of Lost Wishes is a thoroughly creepy setting, especially when readers consider the source of all those lost wishes. It’s a land readers won’t soon forget, with its seemingly endless dunes and a colossal, tentacled Monster in the mix. There’s no question that all of these toy characters are alive and chock-full of such human qualities as fear, loyalty, and menace. The author nevertheless includes endearing reminders that they’re definitely toys, like when a river drenches Buddy, Esteban, and Sasha’s “fuzzy bodies”; it’s clear that when they’re wounded, they’re losing stuffing (which can still be fatal). The cast is top-notch: Buddy doesn’t hesitate to protect Mieya; Esteban’s mandolin-plucked songs can be used as defense in combat; and Sasha may not want to leave the forest she’s always known. Of course, magic plays a crucial part in the toys’ tiny world, to which humans are oblivious (Buddy learned how to craft runes and spells from his mentor The Nameless Wizard, who likewise outfitted him with Aura.) Readers young and old will delight in this breezy, relatively short adventure.
This riveting tale of plushy heroes has a lot of heart.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
After Castro’s takeover, nine-year-old Julian and his older brothers are sent away by their fearful parents via “Operation Pedro Pan” to a camp in Miami for Cuban-exile children. Here he discovers that a ruthless bully has essentially been put in charge. Julian is quicker-witted than his brothers or anyone else ever imagined, though, and with his inherent smarts, developing maturity and the help of child and adult friends, he learns to navigate the dynamics of the camp and surroundings and grows from the former baby of the family to independence and self-confidence. A daring rescue mission at the end of the novel will have readers rooting for Julian even as it opens his family’s eyes to his courage and resourcefulness. This autobiographical novel is a well-meaning, fast-paced and often exciting read, though at times the writing feels choppy. It will introduce readers to a not-so-distant period whose echoes are still felt today and inspire admiration for young people who had to be brave despite frightening and lonely odds. (Historical fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59643-168-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.
Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.
Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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