An entertaining, science-focused mystery that encourages readers to embrace their true selves.
Two middle schoolers investigate mysterious crop circles.
Dani wants to convince her artistic parents that she’s a serious scientist, but her partner in a prestigious youth science competition, “designated school weirdo” Cat, has an alien obsession that might derail Dani’s plans to win. When Cat signs them up to investigate local crop circles, Dani is skeptical at first, but she discovers that Cat is a pro when it comes to the scientific method. Still, Dani pursues her own line of inquiry: her belief that the crop circles are human made. The mystery may be the main event, but themes of family relationships and self-actualization permeate the girls’ partnership. As they grow closer, the seventh graders bond over social challenges (other kids mock their interests) and parental woes (Dani longs for her parents’ acceptance, and Cat just wants to know that her dad, who’s away working for NASA, remembers her). The girls, who are white, follow their own paths despite criticism from others, which makes them good role models for readers. Well-developed parental relationships are central, as is the treatment of ways the girls grow closer through their shared love of science and how this affects their relationships with their parents and their school experiences. The references to scientific methodology are presented in an entertaining manner that’s grounded in real life.
An entertaining, science-focused mystery that encourages readers to embrace their true selves. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250891594
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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
An enthralling fantasy debut exploring exploitation by those in power.
Will 12-year-old Nura be able to outsmart the trickster jinn and save herself and her friends?
Nura lives in the fictional Pakistani town of Meerabagh, where she has worked mining mica to help support her family of five—her mother, herself, and her three younger siblings—since her father’s death. In the mines she has the company of her best friend, Faisal, who is teased by other kids for his stutter, and she enjoys small pleasures like splurging on gulab jamun. Although Maa wants Nura to stop working and attend school, she has no interest in classroom learning and hopes to save up to send her younger siblings to school instead so they can break the family’s cycle of poverty. Following a mining accident in which Faisal and others are lost in the rubble, Nura goes to the rescue. In her quest, she is plunged into the magical, glittering jinn realm, where nothing is as it seems. The author seamlessly weaves into the worldbuilding of the story commentary on real-life problems such as the ravages of child labor and systems that perpetuate inequities. An informative author’s note further explores present-day global cycles of oppression as well as the life-changing power of education. This action-packed story set in a Muslim community moves at a fast pace, with evocative writing that brings the fantasy world to life and lyrical imagery to describe emotions.
An enthralling fantasy debut exploring exploitation by those in power. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5795-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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