A thoroughly enjoyable and exceedingly intelligent novel.
In Cricket’s middle-grade novel, a young English boy is sent to live with the American father he’s never known and finds himself immersed military intrigue.
After Kai Flynn’s mother dies, he’s raised by his Gran in London; when she checks herself into a “looney bin,” he has no choice but to decamp for the United States to live with his father, United States Air Force Sgt. Steven Flynn. They don’t exactly hit it off—Steven is imperiously authoritarian and all but immediately forces Kai to shear his unruly hair, and Kai is a peace-loving vegetarian, an incongruence comically captured by the author. However, they do bond over robotics; Steven builds them for the military, and Kai takes to constructing one of his own for a school project in a sweet homage to his “warrior dad.” Kai receives a package from someone named Fred—he doesn’t know anyone by that name—containing a USB flash drive that, when plugged into his computer, brings his rudimentary robot to vivid, talking life. Shortly after, Steven vanishes, and the scared boy is interrogated by the FBI and informed that Sgt. Flynn is AWOL. Joined by his friends Sandy and Carlos, Kai discovers that Fred is really “FRRED,” an acronym for Federal Rapid Response Electronic Defense, a semi-autonomous military weapon equipped with advanced machine-learning capabilities. The author here artfully combines a youthful adventure story (and a very funny one at that) with a tale of political malfeasance. Cricket deftly navigates familial drama and thrilling espionage beats as the youthful trio try to track down Kai’s father (who is, in essence, also FRRED’s dad). FRRED the robot is exuberantly unhinged, a machine tired of being reduced to his programming. (“I only want to be free to be me. Isn’t that what everyone wants?”) Young readers, and their parents, will delight in this lightsome but thoughtful yarn.
A thoroughly enjoyable and exceedingly intelligent novel.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9798991155038
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Cosmic Turtle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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