Another gripping entry in an engaging series that’s sure to keep readers hooked.
In this third series entry, Ella Durand and her friends embark on a journey that uncovers startling truths.
Starting her third year at the Arcanum Training Institute for Marvelous and Uncanny Endeavors, Ella, a 13-year-old Black girl whose great-grandfather, Jean-Michel Durand, created the institute, has a lot on her plate. Along with keeping up with her magic lessons, Ella’s determined to uncover more of the secrets and lies surrounding the world of Conjurors and Marvellers—and her school in particular. This pursuit leads her to explore mysteries surrounding New Orleans’ Underworld and the history of the creation of the Cards of Deadly Fate, a conjure deck used to imprison people. She still has the help of best friends Jason and Brigit, and this time even more classmates join them. But will their search for answers be worth it, or will their efforts unravel the fabric of their magical society in possibly irreparable ways? Clayton continues to expand on the complex and fascinating magical world she’s populated with dynamic and appealing primary and supporting characters. This sequel delves even deeper into the culturally diverse world Ella and her friends inhabit, taking readers on an emotional ride. This work will best be appreciated by those who are familiar with the earlier books in the series.
Another gripping entry in an engaging series that’s sure to keep readers hooked. (Paragons guide, Arcanum Training Institute information) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781250874825
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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
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