A fast-paced series opener that introduces a new kind of princess story.
A young girl seeks her own happily-ever-after.
Korean American Mihi Whan Park is at a crossroads. Her best friend, Genevieve, is pulling away, and worse, she called Mihi’s love of all things princess childish. All her life Mihi has feared that she is not princess material, and she has been looking for a happy ending in which things feel right. Mihi runs into classmates Reese, who is Black, and Savannah, who presents White, in the school library, and the three girls decide to sneak candies from the librarian’s fridge. They discover that the fridge is a portal: It transports them to the magical Rainbow Forest. There they meet three chatty mice who are shocked that beings from what they call the Grey World have made it into their land. The mice direct the girls to Sleeping Beauty’s castle, where they can seek their own fairy-tale ending. After being greeted by Bertha, Sleeping Beauty’s lady-in-waiting, they are presented with a list of odd rules and requirements for becoming princesses. Eventually a more sinister truth reveals itself, compelling the girls to frantically search for a way home. Characters from popular European fairy tales and folktales make appearances, often somewhat randomly and without a clear purpose, and some worldbuilding rules regarding the Rainbow Forest and its magic are left unanswered; the next volume may clarify some of these elements. Final art not seen.
A fast-paced series opener that introduces a new kind of princess story. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-81431-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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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