A fully immersive and enchanting fantasy that readers will get lost in.
A bold girl’s secret family history and her care for an orphaned wolf pup lead her on a legendary quest.
After a Hunter from Malechia demands shelter at her home in Devia, 13-year-old Sona Kalpani learns a shocking secret. The Hunter’s suspicious gaze forces Sona’s Malech farmer father to reveal the truth: She’s the daughter of his late sister, who was killed by the Goldstorm that also claimed Sona’s real father, a Devan. The gem-seeking Malechs, who’ve colonized Devia for hundreds of years, have outlawed interracial marriage and banned music, which is how Devans wield magic and communicate with animals. Sona realizes she must act, since the Hunter is seeking the injured wolf she rescued, and her loving Ayah is ill from a Goldstorm. Sona sets off with Raag, a boy from a nearby village; Willa, her beloved gray pony; and Swara to journey to Mount Meru, which is sacred to Earth Goddess Bhoomi and is the source of amrita, “the golden nectar of life.” Raag is sure that Swara’s one of the five magical beasts from Devan legend, and Sona and Raag find connections to a prophecy that may free Devia. LaRocca’s intricate South Asian–inspired world is richly developed. The tightly written narrative is interspersed with folklore, letters, songs, and other writing that flesh out the troubled history and wounds of colonization that can only begin to be healed with truth-telling and love.
A fully immersive and enchanting fantasy that readers will get lost in. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063295407
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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