The fourth book cannot come fast enough.
Princess Rowan and her friends find trouble and monsters in equal measure in Armstrong’s latest installment.
Though it seems like Rowan and her close-knit hunting party only just left the Dunnian Woods, they have returned for yet another monster mission—or rather to finish the last one. As royal monster hunter, this responsibility is part of Rowan’s heritage; as a nearly 13-year-old monster and science enthusiast, it is a thrilling opportunity to put her growing knowledge and skills to the test. But something isn’t right. A mysterious catalyst has caused a change in migration patterns as monsters of every type flee an unseen terror—and they’re headed straight for Rowan’s home of Tamarel. Rowan, Dain, Alianor, and some old and new friends make a perilous journey deep into the woods to figure out what could have frightened so many powerful creatures. As the terrible answer steadily becomes clearer, Rowan is faced with the truth that monsters do not have a monopoly on monstrosity. Through Rowan’s first-person narration and natural attention to details, Armstrong immerses readers in her ever deepening external and internal worlds. The effect teeters on disorienting as Rowan’s thoughts flood the pages, but intricately choreographed battles, weighty encounters with politics, and introductions to new monsters (enchantingly rendered in the accompanying illustrated field guide) pace what would otherwise feel frenzied. Characters in this world have a range of skin tones; the citizens of Tamarel are brown-skinned.
The fourth book cannot come fast enough. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-7015-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Puffin/Penguin Random House Canada
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 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
During a school year in which a gifted teacher who emphasizes personal responsibility among his fifth graders ends up in a coma from a thrown snowball, his students come to terms with their own issues and learn to be forgiving. Told in short chapters organized month-by-month in the voices of seven students, often describing the same incident from different viewpoints, this weaves together a variety of not-uncommon classroom characters and situations: the new kid, the trickster, the social bully, the super-bright and the disaffected; family clashes, divorce and death; an unwed mother whose long-ago actions haven't been forgotten in the small-town setting; class and experiential differences. Mr. Terupt engineers regular visits to the school’s special-needs classroom, changing some lives on both sides. A "Dollar Word" activity so appeals to Luke that he sprinkles them throughout his narrative all year. Danielle includes her regular prayers, and Anna never stops her hopeful matchmaking. No one is perfect in this feel-good story, but everyone benefits, including sentimentally inclined readers. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-385-73882-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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