Kids may have to read the book a second time to follow the plot, but this is a novel that rewards a second—or even a...
Everyone in this sequel to Tangle of Knots (2013) gets a chance to be the main character, at least for a page or two.
Almost everybody at Camp Atropos for Singular Talents has a magical ability, and some of them are embarrassing. Ellie and Chuck are black identical twins, and they both share the ability to identify frogs. White Lily has a more impressive Talent; she can whisk objects through the air with her mind, but it’s a skill that put her brother in the infirmary when she lost control. Each of the characters is the focus of the story for a little while, but four characters (three campers and the director) get extra attention. Their names alternate as the book’s chapter titles—“Lily,” “Jo,” “Renny,” “Chuck”—which serves as a sort of score card. With so many storylines, it would be nearly impossible, otherwise, to remember which character was which. But some stories are memorable just because they’re so deeply sad. The camp director writes letters to her sister: “Please come. I want nothing more than to be a family again.” This is a more frenetic story than its predecessor, and some readers may lose patience. Other readers will love the inventiveness—and the sadness—of every storyline.
Kids may have to read the book a second time to follow the plot, but this is a novel that rewards a second—or even a third—reading. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17499-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
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
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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