A heartwarming tale with an engaging premise and satisfying conclusion.
A young boy determined to build a remote-controlled car for an upcoming race faces obstacles in Pannell and Sigfusson’s middle-grade novel.
Brandon Woodberry is a sixth-grader who struggles to stay awake in his last class of the day; when he falls asleep, he’s awakened by sliding out of his seat and landing on the ground. Amidst the laughter of his classmates, he learns that there’s an important final essay due on the upcoming Monday. Although the prompt is simple––to write about plans for the summer––he’d rather hang out with the birds on his rooftop (he’s especially close to a crow he’s named Ralph) with his friend Josh. Brandon is looking to expand his rooftop coop, which already holds 20 birds, by catching some wild pigeons. However, those plans are set aside when he learns about a remote-control car race whose winner will have their car design featured in a video game. Though Brandon’s father doubts he has the experience or technical know-how to win (“It’s huge. Too big for you to handle right now”), Brandon isn’t so easily deterred. He plans to raise enough funds to buy a car-making kit by getting a summer job, and to conscript his group of friends to be his pit crew. Their first attempt to make money via a car wash isn’t as lucrative as they hoped. When Ralph starts to find money around town, Brandon thinks he might actually reach his financial goal—but the involvement of the police throws a wrench in his plan. They’ve created a special unit to aide them in investigating a series of bird-related thefts—and even Brandon’s father is involved, interviewing those affected to write a news article. Pannell and Sigfusson work together well in crafting this second installment in The Crow’s Tales series; no knowledge of the previous book is necessary, as readers are immediately immersed in the world and its characters. While some plot threads are dropped abruptly, most are adequately wrapped up by the end. Brandon’s grit and determination shine through as an inspiration to young readers, as does the book’s positive depiction of friendship and cooperation.
A heartwarming tale with an engaging premise and satisfying conclusion.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781964064048
Page Count: 312
Publisher: VPTSWriters
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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