An elegant and inspired fairy tale that feels both familiar and freshly penned.
A peaceful prince, an aging dragon, and a mysterious maiden forge a unique alliance.
Prince Lir does not possess the power to summon the wolfhounds and is thus unworthy to govern his kingdom. So begins a story of gifts discovered in struggle and friendship forged in adversity. Lir’s stepbrother, Delbayne, who has sinister motives, sends him to fight a dragon, anticipating his demise. Lir is an unlikely questing knight, a bookish young man interested in natural sciences and happy to serve his kingdom humbly in the royal library. Arriving at the dragon’s secluded island, he finds a lethargic beast incapable of flying or breathing fire and drunk on cherry wine made from berries stomped by Cethlenn, a servant girl with a hazy past in the palace kitchens. Adhering to tradition, Lir proposes to perform three tasks to free Cethlenn. Instead of challenging the dragon, Lir endeavors, rather radically, to restore him to health using his scientific skill. Simultaneously, the omniscient narrator slowly unravels Delbayne’s plans for violent attack, which build to an epic, cinematically dramatic battle whose outcome will depend upon the island trio’s nascent trust in one another. Colfer draws out details of kingdom-building in lyrical language while interweaving his characters’ relatable idiosyncrasies, motives, and griefs. Lynch’s sandy orange and misty blue hued watercolor illustrations, replete with detailed dragon profiles and majestic wolfhounds, seamlessly frame the story and bring Colfer’s mostly white-presenting characters fully to life.
An elegant and inspired fairy tale that feels both familiar and freshly penned. (Fantasy. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781536229998
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Breathtaking dragon battles peppered with musings on forgiveness, teamwork, and love.
Lunar Jones joins other planetary guardians to unravel clues from Proteus and save the solar system in this third series entry.
Lunar, a 15-year-old dragoon, is known far and wide and regarded as a hero on Mars, but his personal life contains tension. He’s bonded for life with Dread, the savvy war strategist King-Dragon of Mars, but the Dread Knights are leaving one by one to pursue other opportunities. Though he’s unhappy about this, Lunar doesn’t try to hold them back. Sorting out his feelings for Rose Proctor is another can of worms. Plus he’s preparing for the upcoming Solar Summit, which is held by the planetary dragons once every 500 years. Reminiscent of a dragon family reunion, the summit includes equal measures of information exchange, camaraderie, and squabbles, but the appearance of a shape-shifting Fear Dragon brings everyone to laser-focused attention as they rally against a monstrous unseen enemy. Lunar’s first-person narration presents him variously as an awkward teen, pep-talking mentor, and battle-savvy commander. The dragon battles rock, innovations abound, and the Proteus messages tantalizingly reveal themselves right up until the cliffhanger ending. Names and skin tones cue some ethnic and racial diversity among the smart, strong teenage crew members surrounding the white-presenting Lunar. Knowledge of the previous books is essential to fully appreciate this volume, which explores characters and situations from earlier entries; a prologue introduces the formidable new characters Doom and Gloom.
Breathtaking dragon battles peppered with musings on forgiveness, teamwork, and love. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781665982016
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic.
A loyal black kitten’s boy is under supernatural attack.
Eleven-month-old Nimbus loves Fletcher, the boy who nursed her back to health following life-threatening injuries. When Fletcher becomes curious about a strange jar and opens it, releasing a terrible goblin, loyal Nim protects Fletcher, taking heavy damage in the process. But Fletcher’s aunt, who’s caring for him over spring break, believes Nim attacked Fletcher and dumps her far from home. Rhett, a stylish rat with star quality, befriends injured Nim and leads her to a witch’s house. While the witch cares for Nim, the witch’s cats (maternal Fern, bookish Rochester, standoffish Bianca, and openly hostile Abraxas) teach Nim important cat skills. She also discovers she has a supernatural ability: In destroying one eye of the nightmare demon in the fight to protect Fletcher, Nim gained its “dream sight.” But she also learns it might come back for Fletcher, who no longer has Nim to protect him, posing a time-sensitive, high-stakes threat. Even though the witch’s home is nice and magic itself seems to be telling her to stay put, Nim wants to find a way back to Fletcher. As a hero, Nimbus is as gritty and determined as she is adorable. Tear-jerker moments explore pet abandonment—readers may want their own pets on hand to hug—all the way through the magical, action-packed finale. Fletcher and the witch read white.
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780062680372
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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