An undemanding but fun and diverting adventure for early readers.
In Benjamin’s middle-grade chapter book, a young girl finds a wish-granting seashell and is drawn into an underwater adventure.
Eleven-year-old Marissa is vacationing at the beach when she comes across a pulsating, iridescent, talking seashell. It introduces itself as Periwinkle and tricks her into accompanying it underwater to the Sea-Queen’s palace. Marissa is carried there on the back of a dolphin called Delta (She can breathe underwater so long as she keeps hold of Periwinkle). It transpires that the Sea-Queen has been enchanted by a wizard into a comalike state that can only be broken should a “land mortal” find and pick an especially rare ocean flower called the Neptius. Escorted by Periwinkle, Delta, the mermaid Elga, and the curmudgeonly guard fish Tarak, Marissa sets out to save the queen. To succeed in her mission, she will have to evade the clutches of the villainous One-Eyed (a tiger shark) and his band of cutthroat sea creatures and elude Shantaya, the evil nymph who trained the wizard in the first place. The prose is simple but sometimes lacks fluency: “The Lords and Orgons spoke to her kindly and never put her under pressure. Had it been the opposite, she would have refused.” Marissa is largely a cipher, offering little to distinguish her as a protagonist. This may enable readers to project something of their own personalities onto her, but the blandly rendered Marissa’s actions are not especially inspiring. Benjamin affords her little agency, and, while nominally the hero of the story, she mostly just drifts along, carried—both literally and metaphorically—by her companions. Events play out quickly as the plot continuously shifts and leads the heroes into plenty of peril (though nothing too scary). The novel’s strength lies in the depiction of the ocean world and its creatures; the author has a knack for character, and Marissa’s friends and enemies alike sparkle with magic and personality. While the plot is slight, the setting is splendiferous and surely will stoke young imaginations.
An undemanding but fun and diverting adventure for early readers.Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781733354875
Page Count: 100
Publisher: Notable Kids Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 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
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