A mix of mathematics, sorcery and heroism that’s not to be missed.
West’s debut middle-grade novel asks: What happens when a young girl finds herself in a city governed by magic and math?
For young Alex, traveling all over the world with her engineer father has lost its sheen, and she’s discontented with her life. One day, however, during a confrontation with bullies at school, she’s suddenly and inexplicably thrown into a new world. There she meets Archimedes, a surprisingly sprightly old man who appears to be a magical being. He takes her to a place called the City, where she learns that what she sees as magic is actually a combination of math and Latin. As it turns out, Alex already knows Latin—and she’s about to learn a lot more math. Under Archimedes’ wing, she and other students learn lessons from the Book of Numbers, which give her powers that the City’s ruling classes fear. As trouble brews outside the City from wizards who’ve turned to the dark side, Alex struggles with the power of her own magic, her homesickness, and the intensity of her emotions. When danger comes to the City itself, Alex and Archimedes must try to save it in the only way they know how—with math, magic and love. West’s novel will appeal strongly to readers who enjoyed Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth (1961) as younger children. As with that book, a pre-existing love of math isn’t required; Alex doesn’t see the big deal about numbers until she learns about their magic, and readers won’t need to either. West uses figures from Greek mythology throughout the book, and these references will be delightful to those who understand them, but unimportant to those who don’t. The author draws on a wide range of sources—including a city that resembles the one in Plato’s The Republic—while still managing to write a gripping book for middle-grade readers. The references may even inspire further reading in the classics. Alex’s femininity is never a plot point, either, providing an ideal example of a strong girl completing heroic tasks.
A mix of mathematics, sorcery and heroism that’s not to be missed.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-1502834911
Page Count: 382
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters.
Two young people save the world and all the magic in it in this series opener.
When tall, dark-haired, white-skinned Christopher Forrester goes to stay with his grandfather in Scotland, he ventures to the top of a forbidden hill and discovers astonishing magical creatures. His grandfather explains that Christopher’s family are guardians of the “way through” to the Archipelago, where the Glimourie Tree grows—the source of glimourie, or the world’s magic. Black-haired, olive-skinned Mal Arvorian, a girl from the Archipelago, is being pursued by a murderer, and she asks Christopher for help, launching them both on a wild, dangerous journey to discover why the glimourie is disappearing and how to stop it. Together with a part-nereid woman, a ratatoska, a dragon, and a Berserker, they face an odyssey of dangerous tasks to find the Immortal, the only one who can reverse the draining of magic. Like Lyra and Will from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Mal and Christopher sacrifice their innocence for experience, meeting every challenge with depthless courage until they finally reach the maze at the heart of it all. Rundell throws myriad obstacles in her characters’ way, but she gives them tools both tangible (a casapasaran, which always points the way home, and the glamry blade, which cuts through anything) and intangible (the desire “to protect something worth protecting” and an “insistence that the world is worth loving”). Final art not seen.
An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-16)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593809860
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
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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