An intensely atmospheric ghost story and elegy for a vanished world: spellbinding.
Stuey and his best friend, Elly Rose, both 9, share a birthday and love of the wild woods until a discovery rips them apart, landing each in a world from which the other has disappeared.
Before he died, Gramps, Stuey’s grandfather, showed him where the woods have overgrown the swanky, country-club golf course Stuey’s white great-grandfather, a former bootlegger, built. He disappeared there long ago, while embroiled in an argument with the Jewish district attorney investigating him, their mutual hatred fueled by anti-Semitism and class bias. Stuey lives in the old family home with his artist mother, who’s opposed to selling the woods to a developer. He meets Elly Rose when her family, new arrivals, invites them over. Like Stuey, she’s explored the woods, discovering a hollow clump of dead trees, the deadfall, where each has heard voices whispering. The two steal away to the woods, spin stories, and grow a unique friendship. They’re soul mates. But when Stuey shares an ugly secret that touches both families, Elly Rose vanishes and his world changes: Once allies, her bereaved parents now support leveling the woods. Without Stuey, Elly Rose’s world changes for the worse, too. Each longs to reconnect, but how? Shy Stuey and just-short-of-bossy Elly Rose are likable, their friendship believable and moving. Infused with the magic of the unknown, the eerie wilderness entices them, and readers, inside.
An intensely atmospheric ghost story and elegy for a vanished world: spellbinding. (author’s note) (Paranormal adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9071-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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
More hijinks-filled adventure than mystery, this is sure to win an audience.
Ben Silverstein’s summer with Grandpa is about to go wild.
When his parents need to “work out some troubles,” 10-year-old Ben gets shipped off to tiny Buttonville, where everything seems to be closed or out of business since the button factory was shuttered years ago. Ben’s used to spending summers in the pool in his Los Angeles backyard with his friends, and Buttonville looks positively coma-inducing. When Grandpa’s mouser Barnaby deposits what has to be a baby dragon on Ben’s bed, Ben and his new friend Pearl (whom the whole town calls “troublemaker” on account of a few innocent incidents) decide to visit the new “worm doctor” who has moved into the abandoned button factory. (Ben had heard her strange assistant Mr. Tabby buying ingredients for “dragon’s milk” at the grocery....) When their visit unleashes a hairy, pudding-loving imaginary beast on the town of Buttonville, Ben and Pearl volunteer to catch him. Selfors kicks off her Imaginary Veterinary series with a solid, entertaining opener. Ben and Pearl are Everykids that readers will relate to, and the adults of Buttonville are often delightfully weird and clueless. Twenty-five pages of backmatter include information on wyverns and sasquatch as well as the science of reptiles and a pudding recipe.
More hijinks-filled adventure than mystery, this is sure to win an audience. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-316-20934-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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