A debut that marks the author as an exciting storyteller to watch.
Cryptic directions from her mother lead Yara Sulimayah from England to a magical world.
Upon her death, Yara’s mother leaves her instructions for reaching another world—the city of Zehaira, where she’ll find the sorceress Leyla Khatoun. Although skeptical, Yara’s also desperate to learn more about her and her mother’s past (on paper, they’re from Iraq). She finds an alternate world where the Sultan has sided with the alchemists, banning magic and forcing the sorcerers into hiding through a brutal Inquisition. On her journey to find Leyla, Yara overhears evidence of a dangerous plot to wipe out sorcerers for good. But Leyla, rather than helping her as her mother promised, is busy keeping a secret sorcerer settlement running and is uninterested in the city sorcerers’ woes. Yara must crack through Leyla’s self-protective mechanisms and convince her of the existential threat coming their way, all the while trying to get Leyla to spill the secrets Yara’s mother kept. That Yara ends up having (unconventional) magic of her own might be expected, but by then readers will have already formed an attachment to the determined, bighearted hero. The setting—an Arab-coded world that simmers with magic—is richly described and populated by complex people and jinn. The ending wraps the action up a bit abruptly but looks forward to more dangers and adventures in the sequel.
A debut that marks the author as an exciting storyteller to watch. (Fantasy. 8-14)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781665931083
Page Count: 336
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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