by Rebecca Stead ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 2025
Compelling and page-turning.
What if almost everything you knew about your life was part of a different story?
Sixth grader Nathan’s existence is disrupted when something unusual happens: He grows a tail. It seems to have a mind of its own, and he names it Tuck. Nathan’s parents refuse to call themselves aliens—they’re “Visitors” from the planet Kast. They’ve had extensive training in Earth culture, language, and gestures, and they closely monitor Nathan, logging his food and controlling his activities. Nathan’s best friend, Victor (who’s the Calvin to Nathan’s Hobbes in their favorite comic book character alter egos), knows nothing about any of this until Nathan and his parents are suddenly recalled to the Wagon, the place where they were raised on their journey to Earth. The family’s visit to the Wagon—which is disguised as a storage unit facility outside Altoona, Pennsylvania—leads Nathan to suspect that something is very wrong. His discovery of the exploitation of sentient beings by a coldhearted experimenter nearly leads to his permanent expulsion from Earth. Stead’s narrative focuses on the likable, gentle Nathan, but also offers perspectives from Victor, Nathan’s mother, family cat Toto, Tuck, and even the villain. The pacing is superb, neatly blending family dynamics, friendship, and tween romance with page-turning mystery, adventure, and horror. Nathan’s people have assumed “all Earthly skin tones”; his skin is “a few shades deeper” than that of his crush, golden-skinned Izzy.
Compelling and page-turning. (Science fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781250374769
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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by Aubrey Hartman ; illustrated by Christopher Cyr ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
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
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013
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
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