A spine-tingling tale of a youngster coming into her own.
Twelve-year-old Dubliner Gwen has no idea of the changes awaiting her when she reluctantly agrees to attend a boarding school situated on ancient monastic ruins.
The year is 1986. Gwen’s mother has grown increasingly emotionally unstable while homeschooling her only child, so Gwen’s dad sends her to Loughmoe Abbey. School proves a tough adjustment; lonely, teased because of her weight, and struggling scholastically, Gwen rebuffs the overtures of kindly Hanuni and instead attempts to befriend another dormmate, the chilly Jess, with little success. By midterm break, her sole friend is the cook, who encourages Gwen to tell the principal, Ms. Friedman, about the strange things she’s been noticing: swirling leaves (on a day with no wind), rustling reeds, and a mysterious voice. Ms. Friedman calmly informs Gwen that a spirit is attempting to reach out and sets up an appointment for further communication. As Gwen engages with a spirit named Molly, the initially leisurely pace picks up considerably, and the supernatural elements gain in intensity. Though Gwen’s awkward, occasionally selfish behavior may put off some readers, the eerie atmosphere and intriguing plot will engage them, propelling the story toward happy endings on many fronts. Gwen’s bond with Molly results in an ultimately satisfying arc as she grows in confidence. Gwen and Jess present white; Hanuni is Black and Kenyan.
A spine-tingling tale of a youngster coming into her own. (Paranormal. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781803419176
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Our Street Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
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SEEN & HEARD
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