Lightweight, fluffy fun—especially good for kids just embarking on reading fantasy.
Kara and Prince Fred’s mission to rescue Kara’s father turns into saving all of Heldstone.
After defeating the evil Sorceress in The Battle for Urth (2016), Kara (a pale-skinned Latina) and Prince Fred (a white Heldstonian) have returned to his castle. But the palace is swarming with dignitaries gathered for the big Luminary Ball, including dangerous-seeming Grand Duke Sturmenburg and Fred’s childhood friend, now mean-girl (and aspiring royal bride) Francesca. To eliminate competition for Fred’s hand, Francesca locks Kara on a balcony; when Kara escapes to the next balcony, she overhears Sturmenberg and the Sorceress, who’s survived as a magical shadow, plotting a coup. Kara and Fred’s talking cat, Xyler, manage to save him from the poison but must flee before they can rescue Fred’s parents. On the run, they befriend a vegetarian, free-range-chicken–farming troll and liberate all the enslaved acts of a traveling carnival—including the Elektro-Magician, Kara’s Argentinian-American electrician father—before turning their attention back to rescuing Fred’s poisoned parents. Kara and Fred share the alternating, present-tense narration; their voices are not particularly differentiated, so readers will need to pay attention to chapter-heading cues. The device does, however, help to boost tension by facilitating cliffhanger chapter endings. Heldstone’s diversity appears to reside mostly in its magical beings; the book assumes a white default.
Lightweight, fluffy fun—especially good for kids just embarking on reading fantasy. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-53406-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun.
In a race against their enemies, the Porch girls must find a peculiar pearl in order to foil a fiendish plot.
After defeating a monstrous Kyrgalops in The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch find themselves (after a series of madcap events) at Lake Kagloopy’s Purple Pearl Hotel with their mentor, Millicent Quibb. Quibb informs the trio that they must find the titular pearl before the members of their evil mad-scientist rivals, the KRA, do. If they fail, the KRA (whose members include the malevolent mayor, Majestina DeWeen, and her slimy sycophantic lawyer, Ashley Cookie) plans to use the gem to bestow the Gift of Endless Vibrancy on the villainous Talon Sharktūth. Hilarity ensues as the Porches attend the annual Shrimp Ball, encounter Umbrella Turkeys, search for Cloudite (floating cloud rocks), and don invisible but smelly woolen coats. Jokes aside, the girls’ story is intriguing, offering more clues to their mysterious backgrounds and tantalizing tidbits promising later adventures. McKinnon offers bountiful backstory (alongside a running joke to encourage readers to pick up the preceding volume) and enough guffaw-inducing jokes, zany footnotes, and creative jargon to enthrall readers both new and old with her delightful sophomore effort. Mixing humor, found family, and well-wrought worldbuilding, this sequel is a certain crowd pleaser. Final art not seen; in the previous book, the grayscale illustrations showed the girls with varying skin tones.
Unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun. (appendices) (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9780316555296
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
