An enjoyable coming-of-age fantasy-adventure that also showcases the deep bond between sisters.
Two princesses conquer self-doubt and learn to trust in each other in order to save their people and the only way of life they know.
Princesses Seika and Ji-Lin, twin daughters of Emperor Yu-Senbi of Himitsu, have been best friends since birth. However, when they turn 11, first-born Seika remains at the palace to be groomed as heir apparent, and Ji-Lin is sent to the Temple of the Sun to train to become an imperial guard and her sister’s protector. While Jin-Li learns to wield a sword and mount her winged-lion companion, Seika is taught how to follow rituals. Much to their surprise, Seika and Ji-Lin are sent on the Emperor’s Journey on their 12th birthday. Per tradition, the Emperor’s heir from every generation journeys to the volcanic island of Kazan to renew the bargain with the dragon of Himitsu, who maintains the magical barrier protecting the Hundred Islands of Himitsu. Seika and Ji-Lin soon realize the barrier is failing. When they finally reach their destination and learn tradition has been upended, Seika and Ji-Lin must trust their gut instincts and define for themselves what it means to be a hero. Durst’s attempts to create an Asian-inflected fantasy world are a little contrived, but her imaginative, fast-paced adventure story will keep readers turning the pages.
An enjoyable coming-of-age fantasy-adventure that also showcases the deep bond between sisters. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-70679-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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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