A satisfying, stand-alone sequel that will certainly send readers back to read The Brixen Witch (2012).
Magic beans, a boy brave enough to confer with witches and a girl strong enough to defy a tyrant are the ingredients for another original tale with familiar folklore roots.
Thirteen-year-old Rudi, who first encountered the Brixen Witch a year earlier when she helped him retrieve stolen village children, once again heeds her advice. After red-haired Agatha brings beans she’s stolen from Petz’s tyrannical resident witch, a giant, to Rudi’s home province, the old woman on the mountain tells Rudi to return them. Magic has rules: Witches and their magic must stay home. Rudi and 9-year old Susanna, who recognizes the beans’ magic, travel through a beanstalk to neighboring Petz, where they meet Agatha again and learn how sad conditions are there. The greedy giant-witch of that frozen province has taken every good thing, including summer. The three enter the giant’s lair to return his beans but make things worse by coming home with a hen, whose eggs are, of course, golden. Perhaps Agatha goes along too easily with Rudi's plan to return all the Petz magic, and perhaps Rudi is a bit too dutiful, but the characters are awfully likable, and this tale is set so believably in a traditional Alpine world that it's easy to go along with the make-believe.
A satisfying, stand-alone sequel that will certainly send readers back to read The Brixen Witch (2012). (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-1351-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
More hijinks-filled adventure than mystery, this is sure to win an audience.
Ben Silverstein’s summer with Grandpa is about to go wild.
When his parents need to “work out some troubles,” 10-year-old Ben gets shipped off to tiny Buttonville, where everything seems to be closed or out of business since the button factory was shuttered years ago. Ben’s used to spending summers in the pool in his Los Angeles backyard with his friends, and Buttonville looks positively coma-inducing. When Grandpa’s mouser Barnaby deposits what has to be a baby dragon on Ben’s bed, Ben and his new friend Pearl (whom the whole town calls “troublemaker” on account of a few innocent incidents) decide to visit the new “worm doctor” who has moved into the abandoned button factory. (Ben had heard her strange assistant Mr. Tabby buying ingredients for “dragon’s milk” at the grocery....) When their visit unleashes a hairy, pudding-loving imaginary beast on the town of Buttonville, Ben and Pearl volunteer to catch him. Selfors kicks off her Imaginary Veterinary series with a solid, entertaining opener. Ben and Pearl are Everykids that readers will relate to, and the adults of Buttonville are often delightfully weird and clueless. Twenty-five pages of backmatter include information on wyverns and sasquatch as well as the science of reptiles and a pudding recipe.
More hijinks-filled adventure than mystery, this is sure to win an audience. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-316-20934-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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