An impressive first foray into the realm of dark fantasy.
For Aiden Haunt, being born is a matter of life or death in this fantasy tale.
In Knight’s richly envisioned debut, middle-aged couple Marigold and Jeff, and their gestating child, Aiden, travel through a strange world: an alternate level of existence that operates as an anteroom before birth and after death. The Inner Landscape is hardly a place of comfort; indeed, it’s more confounding, cutthroat and violent than the inner-city Paterson, N.J., public school where Jeff teaches. Here, sentient babies grow on trees, and resident archetypes, including Instinct, Imagination, Logic, Love and Purpose, swear, put on disguises, and battle both the visiting humans and one another. Good and evil beings identify themselves clearly in the outer world, but not in this stark inner realm fraught with ambiguity; sometimes Instinct seems friendly, or perhaps Imagination is, or maybe both will eventually lead the humans astray. Aiden may or may not be symbolic of the salvation of a steeply declining world, and God may or may not be sitting behind the door in Purpose’s castle. Some of these beings want to prevent the child’s birth at any cost, and even Aiden himself is disinclined to go through with it. Meanwhile, his fate unspools in scenes of full-throttle, fever-pitch action reminiscent of those in a graphic novel. (Fittingly, a deftly rendered graphic version of the tale is available at thedarknessofthewomb.com.) The book’s own illustrations, by four artists, capture the tale’s darkness in wildly varying styles, including a charming, apparently hand-drawn map of the Inner Landscape that brings to mind J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Knight, a public school teacher, crafts a tightly structured narrative with an intelligence that transcends its occasional hiccups in word choice (“lied” for “lay”; “feinted” for “fainted”; “effected” for “affected”). He also wisely leaves some key questions unanswered, and some ambiguities unresolved: Why these parents? Why Aiden? Who created the archetypes and the Inner Landscape? Why are their language and behavior so crude and vicious? Indeed, the tale is like life itself: messy, painful and chaotic, yet laced with love and compassion.
An impressive first foray into the realm of dark fantasy.Pub Date: June 16, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 225
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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