A charming origin story for young readers and lovers of folktales.
Cricket’s lighthearted novel of magic for tweens and teens looks at the humble beginnings of a famous figure of English mythology.
Robin Goodfellow doesn’t mean to misbehave; it’s just that pranks and charms come naturally to him. Raised by his mother in a small English village, he spends his days cavorting around the countryside and only occasionally completing his chores. His godmother is furious about his lack of religious observance, but he just can’t seem to keep the prayers straight in his head. When the local lord dies, Robin’s village is shaken by the arrival of a greedy new baron who will rule until the late lord’s young heir comes of age. Robin’s personal life is upended when he faces an unexpected tragedy—just as he discovered a new world of magic after meeting a shepherd named Oberon in a nearby forest. Especially significant is his discovery of a knife with mysterious markings that aids him in unexpected ways. From then on, Robin lives on the outskirts of society, helping his neighbors with secret good deeds, aided by small charms he learned from his mother. Cricket delightfully captures the capricious thoughts of young Robin, and the account of the protagonist’s journey to understanding his faerie nature is captivating. Especially enchanting are the folksy rhyming charms that Robin calls upon to accomplish his tasks, adding an air of homespun authenticity to the happenings: “Listen to my stone, lazy blade/ And work will never wear you down./ Ever sharp be your golden song,/ Music of meadow mowing the dawn.” The other characters, both friends and foes, are well developed, and Robin’s best friend, a girl named Kit, becomes an important catalyst at several key moments. Adding an additional layer of intrigue is a rescue plot toward the end, which also features Robin coming to terms with his position between the human and faerie societies.
A charming origin story for young readers and lovers of folktales.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9798991155021
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Cosmic Turtle Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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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