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Creatures of fantasy, folklore and religious tradition from the Fairy-Queen to the Firebird provide an intriguing introduction to classical music.
Here’s an appealing gallery of 20 fantastic characters depicted in music. There are elves and witches, trolls and skeletal dancers, ghosts and blessed spirits, a sorcerer’s apprentice, a sugarplum fairy, the devil and more. Each is presented in a few short paragraphs headed by the musical piece’s title, genre and composer. The text, smoothly translated from Spanish, often includes something of the background and story of the piece. These words are set against watercolor images featuring surreal and stylized figures. An accompanying CD presents the music: short, relatively familiar selections from Purcell in the 17th century to Ligeti in the late 20th. These range from solo songs and choruses to piano and orchestral pieces, recorded by well-known musicians. Some, like Schubert’s “Der Erlkönig” and Wagner’s “Valkyrie” prelude, are complete; others are just a familiar excerpt. (The text of Goethe’s poem “The Elf King” is reproduced without credit.) Most are under 2 minutes. These pieces have been well-chosen to demonstrate the range and variety of classical music and its performers. Extensive, informative backmatter describes each selection and composer and includes a timeline and glossary. Second in a series by a classically trained Mexican pianist that began with Listen to the Birds (2013), this will be welcomed by teachers, music-loving parents and their children. (Informational picture book/CD. 7-12)
NonePub Date: June 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-2-924217-21-4
Page Count: 68
Publisher: The Secret Mountain
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fast-paced and plot-driven.
In his latest, prolific author Gratz takes on Hitler’s Olympic Games.
When 13-year-old American gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games, she has one goal: stardom. If she can bring home a gold medal like her friend, the famous equestrian-turned-Hollywood-star Mary Brooks, she might be able to lift her family out of their Dust Bowl poverty. But someone slips a strange note under Evie’s door, and soon she’s dodging Heinz Fischer, the Hitler Youth member assigned to host her, and meeting strangers who want to make use of her gymnastic skills—to rob a bank. As the games progress, Evie begins to see the moral issues behind their sparkling facade—the antisemitism and racism inherent in Nazi ideology and the way Hitler is using the competition to support and promote these beliefs. And she also agrees to rob the bank. Gratz goes big on the Mission Impossible–style heist, which takes center stage over the actual competitions, other than Jesse Owens’ famous long jump. A lengthy and detailed author’s note provides valuable historical context, including places where Gratz adapted the facts for storytelling purposes (although there’s no mention of the fact that before 1952, Olympic equestrian sports were limited to male military officers). With an emphasis on the plot, many of the characters feel defined primarily by how they’re suffering under the Nazis, such as the fictional diver Ursula Diop, who was involuntarily sterilized for being biracial.
Fast-paced and plot-driven. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781338736106
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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