Maybe it will inspire readers’ interest in its sources.
Greek mythology meets The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Modern-day girl Athena, 8, is swept up in a sudden thunderstorm on the way home from school and lands “in Magical Mount Olympus” along the Hello Brick Road. The digital dog from her video game joins her, in the flesh, as the canine companion for her adventure. The first beings they encounter are friendly—talking owls who suggest she ask Zeus how to get home and the Glinda-like goddess Hestia. But when flying sandals zoom onto Athena’s feet, she has a run-in with nasty Medusa—who looks just like Athena’s mean-girl classmate of the same name back home—who pursues her in an effort to take the sandals. While following the Hello Brick Road to find Zeus and get home, Athena encounters and helps unlucky Persephone, who tags along hoping to ask Zeus for some luck. The climactic showdown with Medusa involves facing a band of animals she’s turned into stone and quick-thinking trickery on Athena’s part. The plot feels recycled, the resolution might strike some readers as a bit too easy, and the worldbuilding rules are a bit inconsistent for the targeted age. It ends before the girls reach Zeus, so the adventures can continue. Athena and Medusa present white; Hestia presents black.
Maybe it will inspire readers’ interest in its sources. (cast of characters, glossary, discussion questions, author’s note) (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3106-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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