A captivating magical adventure.
The sibling duo return on another quest to save the world.
It’s been two months since sister and brother defeated Ifrit in Qaf and saved the universe. It’s also the end of summer: Hamza wants to have something awesome to share when school starts, so he goes off to explore an old, abandoned, castlelike house. But a sudden tornado hits, and he wakes up in the Oriental Institute, a nearby Chicago museum, face to face with Ifrit’s father, Ahriman, who has returned in search of the Ring of Power that will allow him to control the human and jinn worlds. To find it, Ahriman needs all three parts of an ancient oculus—and the help of Hamza, who is a Chosen One. Ahriman threatens to destroy everything Hamza loves if he does not help him. After solving a riddle, they claim the first piece from the Oriental Institute, then travel via Ahriman’s tornado to the British Museum and the Louvre to collect the remaining pieces, with Amira and fairy princess Aasman Peri in pursuit. Alternating chapters from Amira’s and Hamza’s points of view capture their thoughts and emotions. Ahmed cleverly weaves in Islamic historical figures, some of whom are ghost Keepers of The Ring who pose riddles, like scholar and philosopher Ibn Sina and scientists and inventors the Banu Musa brothers. Ahmed’s rich worldbuilding continues in this imaginative and absorbing sequel.
A captivating magical adventure. (map, author’s note, notes on fantastical creatures and historical figures, further reading) (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-31861-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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