A page-turner that is funny, magical, and entertaining
Changes are hitting Gwendolyn Golden from all around: she is starting grade nine at the same time she is receiving her Night Flyers Handbook, and then there’s the Mystery Person….
The fact that Gwendolyn is a human who can fly is no longer a novelty, as it was in series opener The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden (2014); now it is just a talent she must hone, a talent that she has inherited from her mysteriously deceased father, who was also a Night Flyer. As her mother and younger twin siblings, Christine and Christopher (or C2, as she affectionately calls them), try to get back to a normal life, feisty Gwendolyn nervously begins high school. She meets the new kid in town, handsome, blue-eyed Everton Miles, who is the first Night Flyer she has met close to her own age. Everton soon becomes not only her friend, but also a protector, as the two discover an evil, dark-winged Night Flyer who appears unpredictably and seems to have a special interest in Gwendolyn. Dowding offers a charming sequel that meshes the magical world of Night Flyers with ordinary teenage life effortlessly. Gwendolyn's best friend, the ever perfect Jez, her old friend Martin, who gave her the Worst Kiss Ever last spring, and popular Everton all band together in what becomes a frightening tale that plays out in the shadows of their close-knit, largely white, small town of Bass Creek.
A page-turner that is funny, magical, and entertaining . (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4597-3527-9
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Dundurn
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The sardonic tone of the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism...
Edgar Award–winning Riordan leaves the adult world of mystery to begin a fantasy series for younger readers.
Twelve-year-old Percy (full name, Perseus) Jackson has attended six schools in six years. Officially diagnosed with ADHD, his lack of self-control gets him in trouble again and again. What if it isn’t his fault? What if all the outrageous incidents that get him kicked out of school are the result of his being a “half-blood,” the product of a relationship between a human and a Greek god? Could it be true that his math teacher Mrs. Dodds transformed into a shriveled hag with bat wings, a Fury, and was trying to kill him? Did he really vanquish her with a pen that turned into a sword? One need not be an expert in Greek mythology to enjoy Percy’s journey to retrieve Zeus’s master bolt from the Underworld, but those who are familiar with the deities and demi-gods will have many an ah-ha moment. Along the way, Percy and his cohort run into Medusa, Cerberus and Pan, among others.
The sardonic tone of the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism that questions the realities of our world, family, friendship and loyalty. (Fantasy. 12-15)Pub Date: July 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7868-5629-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
None
None
The Potternaut rolls on, picking up more size than speed but propelling 15-year-old Harry through more hard tests of character and magical ability. Rowling again displays her ability to create both likable and genuinely scary characters, most notable among the latter being a pair of Dementors who accost Harry in a dark alley in the opening chapter. Even more horrible, Ministry of Magic functionary Dolores Umbridge descends upon Hogwarts with a tinkly laugh, a taste in office decor that runs to kitten paintings, and the authority, soon exercised, to torture students, kick Harry off the Quidditch team, fire teachers, and even to challenge Dumbledore himself. Afflicted with sudden fits of adolescent rage, Harry also has worries, from upcoming exams and recurrent eerie dreams to the steadfast refusal of the Magical World's bureaucracy to believe that Voldemort has returned. Steadfast allies remain, including Hermione, whose role here is largely limited to Chief Explainer, and a ragtag secret order of adults formed to protect him from dangers, which they characteristically keep to themselves until he finds out about them the hard way. Constructed, like Goblet of Fire, of multiple, weakly connected plot lines and rousing, often hilarious set pieces, all set against a richly imagined backdrop, this involves its characters once again in plenty of adventures while moving them a step closer to maturity. And it's still impossible to predict how it's all going to turn out.
None (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: July 1, 2003
ISBN: 9780439358064
Page Count: 896
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2003
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
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