Readers will revel in the shivery mood.
Instead of Halloween, Eerie-on-Sea townsfolk celebrate Ghastly Night, lighting manglewick candles to keep the legendary Shadowghast from stealing their shadows.
This year, candles won’t be enough. The holiday commemorates a stranger’s mesmerizing shadow-puppet show in which Eerie townsfolk watched the shadow of a grinning, horned man chase and consume fleeing shadows, human and otherwise. Cheated of payment by Eerie’s duplicitous mayor, the puppet master fed his shadow to the Shadowghast. (The mayor himself vanished). Dr. Thalassi and Mrs. Fossil retell these historical events annually. They’re blindsided when charismatic stage magician Caliastra arrives with her agent and two mimes, planning to re-create the story theatrically. Caliastra dazzles Herbie; claiming she’s his aunt, she invites him to be her assistant. Violet, Herbie’s fellow orphan, is skeptical—and also worried because her guardian is missing. Their friendship suffers, but as Mrs. Fossil disappears and Shadowghast sightings accumulate, the two put aside differences for dangerous investigations that lead to Sebastian Eels’ empty house and the Netherways, a labyrinth of underground passageways. When quick-witted, intrepid Violet is sidelined, cautious, risk-averse Herbie needs a gutsy plan and help from Erwin, the oracular cat, and Clermit, the charming, clockwork hermit crab. Eclipsing clowns in sheer creepiness, the mimes are nastily memorable creations. Inventive plotting, spooky atmospherics, and quirky humor will keep readers entertained. Characters are minimally described, but prior entries and names signal some diversity in the default White cast. Final illustrations not seen.
Readers will revel in the shivery mood. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0860-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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