A compelling adventure steeped in Jewish tradition.
Ezra is the Nivchar, a chosen one destined to fight the embodiment of all evil, the gurya dinura.
Each generation, a Nivchar is born bearing a “birthmark constellation of moznayim, the Scales.” They’re trained by the Sanhedrin, a council of Jewish leaders, to prepare for the battle, which takes place on the night of their bar or bas mitzvah. During the period between the battles—the Beinoni time—“nothing’s really all that bad…and there’s nothing too incredible to hope for, either.” Months before Ezra’s battle, the Beinoni time starts slipping away, which Ezra is convinced has to do with the mysterious organization that seems bent on kidnapping him. He begins to struggle in school, and he befriends his troublemaker classmate, Aryeh. A mystery surrounding the previous Nivchar unfolds slowly, and sharp readers will likely guess how Ezra’s battle will play out based on many hints. A glossary assists readers who may be unfamiliar with the book’s Jewish concepts. Jewish readers, particularly Orthodox Ashkenazi ones, will feel at home here, and those familiar with Semitic languages may even pick up on some linguistic clues. Ezra and most characters are Jewish and cued white; some major supporting characters are Persian Jews. A subplot relating to Ezra’s ADHD diagnosis and treatment will resonate with many.
A compelling adventure steeped in Jewish tradition. (Fantasy mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781646145065
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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