Kaboom!: Blast Off

Written by Jay Odjick

Illustrated by KC Oster

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-9836-3 

142 pp.

Ages 8–12

February 2026 

 

Zack seems like a regular kid. He likes riding his bike and imagining himself as a superhero. He is lured by ads for the snack Choco Pops and the energy drink Splurge and is impressed with the fabulously rich like Konstantin Pierce. Compared to his boring parents who sell refrigerators, Pierce looks pretty exciting. But there seems to be another story that the imaginative Zack does not know. While he believes his parents are at a trade show and he's staying with his Auntie Jess, his mom and dad, calling each other Shadowbird and Greywolf, are working for F.U.S.I.O.N. as true superheroes, currently stopping those who steal ancient artifacts. As for Konstantin Pierce, he's more villain than entrepreneurial genius.

From Kaboom!: Blast Off, written by Jay Odjick, illustrated by KC Oster

Pierce is looking to extort world powers by controlling the weather and he's concerned that F.U.S.I.O.N. agents are going to get in the way. He arranges for them to be eliminated. Not surprising that Zack is shocked when flying robots and a masked man come and take his parents and aunt away. Thankfully his parents have a household security system to protect Zack and he, along with a cute robotic dog rejected by Pierce, are whisked to his parents' underground headquarters where he virtually meets Tana a.k.a. Teknik from New Zealand. Tana/Teknik explains that, like his parents and her Māori father, she is an agent of F.U.S.I.O.N., the First Universal Secret Indigenous Operatives Network, which is tasked with working against any threat to Indigenous Peoples, cultures, and ways of life.

From Kaboom!: Blast Off, written by Jay Odjick, illustrated by KC Oster

So, as Zack and his new robot sidekick Rusty poke around his superhero parents' secret den, Pierce is threatening the U.N. even though he realizes that a thumb drive with the activation codes is missing. But, after finding a special Lycra suit fit for a superhero, Zack, who becomes known as Kaboom, works to help get his parents back and thwart Konstantin Pierce and his villainous henchman and drones. 
 

Looks like there's a new superhero in town as Blast Off! is just the first book in the new Kaboom! graphic novel series. Zack a.k.a Kaboom is a little impetuous, a lot funny, and kind of sweet, and he's a character whose adventures middle graders will want to follow. Jay Odjick, who'd previously illustrated Robert Munsch's Bear for Breakfast / Makwa kidji kijebà wìsiniyàn (2019), gives us a story in which a kid becomes a hero. But Jay Odjick also blends Zack's story with Indigenous superheroes from around the world—Māori, Inuit, Nahua, Khalka, and Algonquin appear in Blast Off—and the importance of doing good. Still Kaboom!: Blast Off is not a story that is told to preach or convey messages of how to live. It's about superhero fun with lots of humour, like when Zack starts pushing buttons he shouldn't or when he mishears Tana when she says kinetic and he hears Connecticut. With Zack just being Zack and Jay Odjick getting all the voices just right for all his characters, Kaboom!: Blast Off entertains completely.

From Kaboom!: Blast Off, written by Jay Odjick, illustrated by KC Oster

But, without the artwork of KC Oster, a new illustrator for me, Kaboom!: Blast Off just wouldn't be the hit it is. I like the style of this Ojibwe-Anishinaabe comic artist, who previously did the art for Rabbit Chase (written Elizabeth LaPensée, 2022). Their graphics are not cluttered, focusing on Zack and the other characters, keeping the details for lively interactions like altercations with the bad guys and fight scenes. And by not limiting their palette of colours, KC Oster makes the art exciting and lavish.

 

An Indigenous superhero organization, a kid hero, a robotic dog, and operations to stop the bad guys sounds like the kind of graphic novel that middle-grade readers will latch onto. I think Kaboom! has just made a dynamite arrival.

Under Attack (Kidnapped From Ukraine, #1)

 

Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

 Scholastic

978-1-546104513

320 pp.

Ages 8-13

January 2025

 

Apologies to author Marsha Skrypuch and Scholastic for my tardy review of this exceptional novel. They kindly ensured I received a copy of Under Attack and, while a gripping read, it has an emotional component for me, making my reading of it far more challenging. But, because it is so well written and told with such compassion and insight, I could not stay away from Under Attack. Years from now, readers will look to Under Attack as an authentic commentary of how the attack on Ukraine that started in 2022 played out for children and their families. 

 

Twelve-year-old Dariia Popkova's story did not just start on February 24, 2022, although this is the starting point of Under Attack. Her life in her family's fourth floor apartment in Mariupol would have been typical. Her father worked at the Azovstal steel plant. Her mother worked at a nail salon. And Dariia and her twin sister Rada went to school, had friends, did crafts, and loved using their cell phones. Then Putin declares a "special military operation" to free Ukrainians from their "Nazi" regime. When the first bomb hits their apartment, Dariia and her mother are separated from Dariia's dad and Rada. With this begins a separation of place and experience as they try to find their way back together.

 

Dariia and her mother shelter in a basement of a school supply depot with many others. Some are strangers like Sonya Marynovska and her four-year-old daughter Ariadna and two Tatar boys Rustem and Asan, but also a classmate Natalia and her dog Mimi. From their basement base, the twenty-eight hunker down, make unsafe outings to scavenge for food and water and get cell phone reception. They are "eating practically nothing, drinking bad water, and hearing the thunder of nonstop bombing overhead." (p. 53) Weeks turn into months and though Dariia and her mom are first looking to get to the Avostal steel plant where her father's army reserve is stationed and Rada is safe, ultimately they get the message to get to the humanitarian corridor and go to Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeast Ukraine. 

This wasn't a war.
This was the Russian Federation executing civilians because they were Ukrainians.
It was terrifying and senseless. (p. 82) 

Stealing an abandoned car, amidst the continued shelling, roaming tanks with white Z markings, and marauding Russian soldiers, Dariia, her mother, Rustem, Ariadna and Mimi the dog don't get very far before they are stopped and sent to a "filtration center" where they are told they would be evacuated to safer parts of Russia. 

 

Dariia, now separated from her mother, is sent with Rustem and other children–Katya, Volodya, Ihor, Dmytro and siblings Lilia and Vadim–to the Romashka Children's Camp where they are told about Putin, the benevolent president, who has helped rescue them from the Nazi regime of Zelensky. The children know it is propaganda but play along.

It made me angry that the Russians had brought me to this prison that looked and smelled like freedom. (p. 136)

When they are sent to their respective Russian "foster homes," the children vow to get in touch whenever they can with a Gmail account Liliya and Vadim had created to drop messages. Separated from any family they might have and each other, they are determined to keep their connections to each other, to the truth and their homeland.

This could be historical fiction. It could have been a story from the 1940s. I wish that it were. But it's a contemporary story from 2022 through the present, recounting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the continuing war in a fictionalized story. Someday Under Attack will be historical fiction and readers will shake their heads at the senselessness of the war. I can only hope that they'll be looking back from a time when Ukraine is free from Russian oppression and violence.

While a fictionalized story, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch takes the time and effort to understand the truths, like the truth about how the war started, the propaganda levelled at both Ukrainians and Russians, and the impact of the war on Ukrainians, from children to workers to the elderly. It is a tough story because of these truths which are so distressing and disheartening. Still Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is a master at telling such stories (e.g., Winterkill, Traitors Among Us, Dance of the Banished, and Making Bombs for Hitler), ensuring a sensitivity to her characters and her readers, and a thoroughness and accuracy of details.

It's fitting that I review Under Attack on a day which Christians commemorate as Good Friday. Like the day, this book is one of grief and injustice. And it is one that requires contemplation. We can only hope that after the grief comes a resurrection for Ukraine and a future of peace. Only history, and Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's follow-up books in the Kidnapped From Ukraine series, will tell.

• • • • • • •

Standoff, Book 2 in Kidnapped from Ukraine, releases in October, 2025.

 

 

Mystery at the Biltmore: The Vanderhoff Heist

Written by Colleen Nelson

Illustrated by Peggy Collins

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-327-8

136 pp.

Ages 7-10

2024

 

Multi-family residences like hotels, resorts and apartment buildings are fabulous settings for elaborate mysteries, in which a host of suspects can be found within the residents, and Colleen Nelson has found a spectacular setting in her fictional historical residence, the Biltmore, on New York City's Upper West Side. It's loaded with character and characters that make the story rich in personality, both straightforward and intricate in its plotting, and playful in its delivery.

 

It's summer and Elodie LaRue has once again been abandoned to her nanny Miss Rosa by her globe-trotting art crime investigator parents. Determined to make something interesting out of her summer, Elodie posts notices that she is a detective available for hire. The very next day, she is contacted by Agnes, the housekeeper for the world-famous landscape architect Mrs. Vanderhoff whose sapphire earrings have disappeared from a velvet tray in her room. As Agnes is being blamed, the housekeeper encourages Mrs. Vanderhoff to hire Elodie and find the real culprit. 

From Mystery at the Biltmore: The Vanderhoff Heist, written by Colleen Nelson, illustrated by Peggy Collins

With the help of Carnegie, her West Highland Terrier, and a new resident and aspiring stunt person Oscar Delgado, Elodie sets out to solve the mystery of Mrs. Vanderhoff's missing jewels. Along the way, readers meet a menagerie of extraordinary people at the Biltmore, both employees and residents and visitors, as well as an assortment of furry and feathered friends. With so many potential suspects, Elodie and Oscar must put their little grey cells to work and sift through the clues to find the thief.

From Mystery at the Biltmore: The Vanderhoff Heist, written by Colleen Nelson, illustrated by Peggy Collins

I've often declared how challenging it is to write for early and early middle-grade readers. Getting the right mix of appropriate vocabulary and plot to meet their needs and interests without talking down to or above them is difficult. However, if Colleen Nelson has shown us anything, it's that she can write it all. She's written picture books, YA, non-fiction, and middle-grade novels. She's been nominated for countless awards, including the Governor General's Award, and won several readers' choice awards such as the Silver Birch award of the Forest of Reading and the Shining Willow award of the Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Awards. Her skill in getting the voice of her characters right, whether kindergarteners (Teaching Mrs. Muddle), middle graders (e.g., The Undercover Book List) or teens struggling with violence, addictions and bullying (e.g., Finding Hope, The Fall, Blood Brothers) or even a dog (e.g., Harvey Comes Home) allows her to create a plethora of worlds in which kids and teens face challenges, some more troubling than others, and find something inside that allows them to prevail. Here, Colleen Nelson has given readers a child whose world may be one of comfort, living at the Biltmore, having a nanny, loving her dog, and feeling secure enough to explore solving mysteries in safety but she also lets us see Elodie as a child who misses her parents and wants to have friends and not waste her summer doing nothing. Fortunately, Elodie's a go-getter and solving a mystery or two is what she's interested in doing. And she's good at it. She knows how to ask questions, how to look at the evidence, even outside-of-the box, and how to follow through. She's going to be an amazing detective. (Hopefully her parents will notice too.)

 

The plot, which feels very much like Only Murders in the Building without the murders, is both intricate and straightforward, perfect for the audience. But adding to Colleen Nelson's story is the darling spot art of Peggy Collins, the author-illustrator of the award-winning Harley the Hero. The art adds little bursts of colour to the book and helps readers envision the Biltmore and all its characters, improving readability and comprehension.

 

The second book in the Mystery at the Biltmore series releases in April (The Classified Catnapping) and I'll be reviewing it next so you can see where the series is going. Colleen Nelson has confidently transitioned Elodie from a potentially bored child to an emergent detective who is willing to help those in her building get the answers they need to their pressing mysteries. With Carnegie, Oscar, Miss Rosa and the others at the Biltmore, she'll be busy and gratified that the LaRue Detective Agency will have new mysteries to solve.

 

🏢 🏢 🏢 🏢 🏢

 

Mystery at the Biltmore #1: The Vanderhoff Heist (2024)

Mystery at the Biltmore #2: The Classified Catnapping (April, 2025)
 

The Case of the Missing Spot (Nancy Spector: Monster Detective, Book 1)

Written by Stephen W. Martin

Illustrated by Linh Pham

Algonquin Young Readers

978-1-6437-5065-1

208 pp.

Ages 7-11

September 2024

 

A lost pet is a frightening and heartbreaking experience for many a fur parent but what if the pet is an invisible dog? Who is going to help the Invisible Man a.k.a. Professor Griffin find Spot, his invisible eight-year-old Border Collie who loves bacon? It's going to be Nancy Spector of the Monster Detective Agency.

From The Case of the Missing Spot, written by Stephen W. Martin, illustrated by Linh Pham

Nancy and her dog Jinx, who reluctantly accompanies her but will do anything for a belly scratch, start their search at the Professor's house. Except for Jinx developing a case of relentless sneezing, accompanied by copious amounts of snot, they find nothing and head to Spot's doghouse. There they discover an escape tunnel which leads to a cavern of snarly rock-like creatures and then above ground where they follow clues like a body print in wet cement–no paw prints because, of course, Spot is invisible–left by Eugene the vampire and visit Melvin's Diner where they hatch "Nancy's super awesome hot dog trap plan."

From The Case of the Missing Spot, written by Stephen W. Martin, illustrated by Linh Pham

But their trap doesn't work, and it takes more encounters with monsters and following more clues before they discover a vengeful plot and a new nemesis for Nancy but also the reunion of the Invisible Man and his Spot.

From The Case of the Missing Spot, written by Stephen W. Martin, illustrated by Linh Pham

Stephen W. Martin and Linh Pham take middle grade readers into another world–actually an island in the Atlantic Ocean–where monsters reside and the supernatural is the norm. Yet, they've made their characters playful and different. From the dragon-like monster who chows down on everything but denies eating Spot since he doesn't eat anything with fur, and Hank the two-headed rainbow-feathered bird, to Eugene's grandmother who uses bones as hairpins for her curlers, and of course, Nancy and Jinx, the characters in The Case of the Missing Spot are a little wacky with just a smidgeon of creepily weird and a whole lot of fun. And as they partake in the search for Spot, whether by design or by encounter, they keep the investigation zany and yet fruitful. 

 

Canadian-born Stephen W. Martin, a screenwriter as well as children's book author, gives young readers a little bit of everything, ensuring entertainment for them either through humour or fantasy. The humour comes by way of the characters themselves, especially via adorable Jinx, while the story is the fantasy. Readers will witness Nancy and her fellow investigators flying on Hank and a waitress with four arms, as well all manner of flamboyant monsters driving flashy cars. Everything is bold and brash and monstrously splashy in setting, characters, clothing, and more. Vancouver's Linh Pham gives this graphic novel the action and the intensity to accompany Stephen W. Martin's investigative adventure, collaborating with him to create a world like no other.

Since The Case of the Missing Spot is labelled as Book 1 in the Nancy Spector: Monster Detective series, I think we'll have more adventures and laughs coming from the eight-year-old detective and her talking dog. And since the map of their setting includes some locations not yet introduced, like the Cloud Sauna, the Never Rainbow, the Mermaid Cave, and Ice Horns, I think there will be more surprises and hoopla for Nancy and Jinx and their many acquaintances.

The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion (The Inside Scouts #1)

Written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths

Illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

Acorn (Scholastic)

978-1-338-89498-1

64 pp.

Ages 4–7

RL 1.0

February 2024 

 

Sanjay and Viv are the Inside Scouts, and they have the superpower to shrink super small and go inside animals to make them feel better. In this first book in this illustrated early reader (RL 1.0) series, the kids must help a lion who is not feeling his best.

Inside Scouts!

Always on call!

To fix big things,

we get super small! (p. 20)

 

From The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

Ruslan  is a lion who wants to run and play with his cubs, but he is feeling far too tired to do so.  Using some very cool tech, the kids show Ruslan a leak in his heart. Gearing up, the two go in through his nose–though they must be careful not to tickle the sensitive lion–and follow a vein to the heart.

From The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

The Inside Scouts show young readers how the heart is made up of four rooms, with doors called valves that allow movement of the blood. Though the story is appended with "Fun Facts about the Heart" that describes the pumping of the heart and uses terms like circulates, arteries, veins and chambers, the illustrations are done at such large scale that the anatomical features of the heart are not readily discernible so even the squeamishest of children will have no problems with the artwork. But they will have a sweet introduction to how our hearts work and how those with poorly-functioning ones might feel.

From The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

Not only will the Inside Scouts help young children understand their bodies, but the series will also make them think about illness and how our behaviours may be impacted by health issues. Whether it's a lion that cannot play with his cubs because of a leaky heart, or a giraffe with an upset tummy or a cheetah with a leg cramp (Books 2 and 3 are out later this year), the Inside Scouts teach and encourage empathy for those who may be suffering.

From The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion, written by Mitali Banerjee Ruths, illustrated by Francesca Mahaney

The tale of the kindly lion with a big heart, albeit a leaky one, will delight young readers with its mixture of humour–such as the kids getting sneezed out of the lion's nose with slime–learning and story. Mitali Banerjee Ruths, who also writes The Party Diaries series for the Branches early chapter book imprint of Scholastic, has written a text that is perfect for the earliest readers but challenges them with more sophisticated words in the "Fun Facts about the Heart" section. There is also an activity (Draw Your Own "I Am Kind" Badge) and encouragement to write a story about being kind. With artwork by Filipino-American Francesca Mahaney, who has done a fabulous job of illustrating what could have been a perplexing topic for young children, The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion becomes an accessible but bold adventure of colour, shape, and story, and one that will be a hit with readers, teachers and parents.

 

• • • • • • •

The Inside Scouts Help the Kind Lion (February 2024)

The Inside Scouts Help the Brave Giraffe (June 2024)

The Inside Scouts Help the Strong Cheetah (October 2024)

The Secret of the Ravens

 

Written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

Clarion Books

 978-0-35-865011-9

272 pp.

Ages 8-12

November 2023

Reviewed from ebook

 

In the Kawumiti Kingdom. twins Elliot and Liza are homeless and scour trash heaps for things to sell. When a boy tells them about capturing marked ravens who bestow upon them missions to earn coins, the twins are all in. Using a shoplifted book of magic, the twins undertake their first task: to collect eggs from the fairy-bluebird. After several additional missions, they head to Capital City looking for shelter but learn quickly how the poor and derelict are mistreated there, all on the orders of King Tavon. They do meet Seb, a royal apprentice, who tries to encourage them to apply for the same program, but Elliot will have none of it.

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

When the two go after the active venom of a titan snake, Liza is injured, and no one will help them without payment, so Seb takes them to a mage in the forest who does not charge. Isra, who was rumoured to have fought in the Human-Ryven War a century earlier, agrees to help but she can only create an antidote if they acquire the egg of a crowned eagle, a black lily, and jadeite. And so, as Liza remains with Isra in her cave, Elliot and Seb pursue the elusive ingredients she requires.

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

But the ingredients are more elusive than they realize. The egg may be tricky but possible, but Seb learns from his friend and commander, Leya, that the black lily is extinct, and jadeite is so rare that perhaps only Queen Reyna has a necklace with it.

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

And so, the  two boys, one a disciplined apprentice with friends in the castle and the other a brother with limited magic skills but a desperation to help his sister, must work together, never knowing whom they can trust, perhaps not even each other.

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

The Secret of the Ravens is Winnipeg's Joanna Cacao's debut as both author and illustrator, and, judging by the open ending of this story, it will not be her last. She's got lots more story to tell, whether it's about a family that needs reuniting or a family that needs to be created–there is a very subtle spark between Seb and Elliot–or because of the historical clash between the Humans and Ryvens. And there's always magic to be learned and to be worked.

 

Family is paramount here, though by creating a new world in which Humans mistreated Ryvens, in which magic and mages are common, and in which unusual species like the titan snake and black lily exist, Joanna Cacao has blended the familiar with the fantastic. The twins and Seb look like any young people, as are their challenges to survive and thrive. But the other elements take the story to a different level. With ease, Joanna Cacao has given us a world in which the supernatural is natural and magic–documented in an appendix to the story–can make things happen. Her art gives us both that reality and the fantastic, depicting characters who look like us but can teleport between locations, castles and forests of extraordinary beauty and detail, and snazzy and brassy magic with spells cast with words like Sumabog and Pakawalan. (Interestingly, casting spells use words that seem to reflect Joanna Cacao's Filipino heritage.)

From The Secret of the Ravens, written and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

I don't know when readers will be returning to the Kingdom of Kawumiti but return we must to discover whether Isra will be successful in seeing her own family again, whether Elliot survives a deadly pact he has made, and whether Liza, Seb and Elliot will be reunited. Oh, and there's also the little matter of justice for the Ryvens and retribution for King Tavon and Queen Reyna. So, there's lots more story to be told and read and imagined.

Visions of the Crow (Dreams, Book 1)

Written by Wanda John-Kehewin

Illustrated by nicole marie burton

Lettering by Kielamel Sibal

HighWater Press (Portage & Main)

978-1-774920459

80 pp.

Ages 12+

April 2023 

Damon Quinn is a teen who is burdened with challenges that are not of his doing. His mother, Marnie, drinks and doesn't always ensure there's food in the house. At school, he's tormented by a bully Marcus who thinks it's clever to call him an Indian in the cupboard. And there's a crow that seems to be watching him. Damon meets Journey who comes to his defense, saying they should stick together even if he isn't fully Indigenous. When she calls him the Métis Crow Whisperer, he decides to ask his mother about his heritage.

From Visions of the Crow by Wanda John-Kehewin, illus. by nicole marie burton

Though Marnie has always been reluctant to talk about her family and Damon's, and she suggests he's better off without them, she reveals that she is Cree from Alberta, and his father was Métis. When she got pregnant at 17, she left her dysfunctional family on the reserve and she and his father moved to Vancouver. When Damon was four, his dad left to return to the reserve and made a new family with another woman.

From Visions of the Crow by Wanda John-Kehewin, illus. by nicole marie burton

Marnie recognizes that "sometimes when you run from things you run too far the other way" (pg. 21) and that maybe it would be beneficial for Damon to talk to someone. She suggests that this might be especially important to him after he has several visions that he doesn't understand, some when he's sleeping, others when he's awake, that place him in the time of his ancestors. Perhaps it's as he's been told, that the crow is a messenger from his ancestors that they are waiting to help him. 

 

Damon meets with a counsellor named Craig Ben Bolton who helps Damon see the meaning in his visions while also appearing in them. Damon sees his ancestors debating the signing of Treaty 6, juggling whether to starve or lose their land. He meets his great uncle who instructs him in honouring the drum. He witnesses the pain of his great-great-grandmother as a child at residential school. And while he learns about his family's past and Marnie becomes more forthcoming of her own history, Damon discovers the impact of intergenerational (a.k.a. transgenerational or historical) trauma on his mother and now him.

This trauma flows through the bloodlines and into you, Damon. (pg. 63)

From Visions of the Crow by Wanda John-Kehewin, illus. by nicole marie burton

Visions of the Crow is a powerful graphic novel of how the past is never in the past completely. Its impact can be far-reaching whether because of multigenerational trauma or through the learning of important lessons or passing on of cultural traditions or by framing who we are as individuals. And with visions that take him into the past experiences of his ancestors, Damon draws knowledge which can lead to healing and to growth for both Damon and his mother. As such, author Wanda John-Kehewin has made Visions of the Crow a story of family, albeit one that can go back generations and into the future. 

 

There is much darkness in Visions of the Crow and graphic artist nicole marie burton gives that shadow quality to their illustrations with their choice of palette and expressive characters that feel so much. There is much to feel in the story and art of Visions of the Crow and nicole marie burton's art takes us from a tenuous home situation to bullying at school and from anger at the unknown to the delicacy that comes from enlightenment, all while taking the reader from Damon's contemporary life into the past with ease.

 

Visions of the Crow is just the first book in this new graphic novel series–Damon's story continues in the second book, Visions From the Fire–and I anticipate more learning and healing to come for Damon and his family. Maybe it will come through surreal visions again or maybe through very real connection with living family but, whatever way Wanda John-Kehewin decides to take Damon's story, it will be forward.

Echoes and Empires

 

Written by Morgan Rhodes

Razorbill

978-0-593351659

400 pp.

Ages 12-18

2022 

Reviewed from audiobook (978-0-593502839)

Josslyn Drake has always led a privileged life as the First Daughter of the Regarian prime minister. Of course, things changed drastically when her father was assassinated by the warlock Lord Zarek Banyon at last year's Queen's Gala. Still, Queen Isadora, a close family friend, has allowed her to stay in the PM's residence, now home to Prime Minister Ambrose and Celina, his daughter and Joss's best friend, as well as providing Joss with a generous allowance.

But a year after her father's murder at the annual Queen's Gala, Joss's life is again turned around. First, she learns that Celina is now betrothed to Joss's own crush Viktor, a commander in the Queensguard. Then, when she goes to view the stolen artifacts retrieved from Banyon's residence, she interrupts the theft of an ornate box from which a golden smoke is released and enters Joss. The next day, the young thief, Jericho Nox, finds her and reveals that memory magic is now in Joss and he must get it back for his employer, the witch Valery. Having been indoctrinated to believe that all magic is evil and uncontrollable, and the source of all illness, violence and cruelty, Joss wants the magic out of her as much as Jericho wants to get it back. This is especially true because the memories Joss sees as echoes are those of her father's killer, Lord Banyon.

 

Still, getting the magic out of her becomes even more complicated after they are betrayed and imprisoned in the walled prison known as the Queen's Keep. So now, not only do they need to get the magic out of her and quickly, as Valery is causing Jericho much pain through the marks by which she has bonded him to her, but they must find a way out of the Keep, which only seems possible by making a dangerous deal with the Overlord, Vander Lazos, once magical advisor to the Queen and a former friend of Banyon's. But that deal requires Jericho, who possesses death magic, to destroy a creature that torments the Keep, and even that does not ensure their escape from the walled community or the removal of the magic from Joss.

Morgan Rhodes has created another complex fantasy of magic in which an unlikely pair of brash young people must work to together–and maybe fall in love–to get what they both want. Unfortunately, they are both at the dictates of those who have and will deceive them before they offer any assistance, and the two must rely on each other rather than those who have always appeared to be in their corners. Some readers may find seventeen-year-old Joss unlikable as the privileged child of the empire, accustomed to wealth and recognition, and typically showing contempt for those less than herself but with whom she must ally herself. Jericho, on the other hand, is just a hard shell of a young man of nineteen, having suffered numerous tragedies from the deaths of his parents and now bondage to a treacherous but powerful witch who chooses to use him as a tool of lawlessness. They are very different but still connected through a bit of magic and a whole lot of misadventure. 

But, beyond her wealth of characters, and Joss and Jericho are but the main ones, Morgan Rhodes gives us a new world of fantasy, in which magic is manipulated and cursed, in which secrets are used to control and protect, and affection is a commodity of both innocence and might. With each step of their mission to remove the magic from Joss and deliver it to Valery, the two teens grow and become more than they had been and more than they'd expected to be. From objects of compliance with social norms and their manipulators, Joss and Jericho start to see beyond that which is presented to them. They're starting to see the world as it truly is.

Everything Morgan Rhodes (a.k.a. Michelle Rowen for adult readers) writes is gold. She weaves characters and stories together into rich fabrics, complex with the depth of the connections of their plights and natures. She makes us laugh with their foibles and sarcasm, and has us cheering for them when they endure and even conquer. And she makes us swoon when the unlikeliest of characters find soulmates. Echoes and Empires delivers all that and more, and there will be many a reader, including this one, anticipating the sequel, Legends and Liars, which comes out in June.

 

• • • • • •

A Blanket of Butterflies: The Spirit of Denendeh, Volume 1

Written by Richard Van Camp

Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson

Colours by Donovan Yaciuk

HighWater Press

978-1-77492-040-4

56 pp.

Ages 12 +

2022 

 

When Shinobu arrives in the Northwest Territories to reclaim his family's samurai armour housed at the Fort Smith museum, he learns that the sword has gone AWOL after Benny, the last museum manager, gambled it away. Sonny, a Tłı̨chǫ Dene boy who was at the museum, offers to take Shinobu to Benny's residence, though Sonny warns that the man will undoubtedly be supported by a trio of thugs named Torchy, Sfen and Flinch. 

From A Blanket of Butterflies by Richard Van Camp, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, coloured by Donovan Yaciuk

Not surprising Shinobu is attacked and, though he valiantly defends himself, he is left almost dead. Sonny and some friends take the man to Sonny's grandmother's house. Though Shinobu's extensive tattoos  frighten Sonny's Ehtsi, she tends to his wounds. With Sonny's support for "the butterfly man"–because of his butterfly tats–and a visitation from the spirit of Sonny's sister, Sonny's grandmother wants to know more. Shinobu tells her he is from Nagasaki, Japan and she realizes the connection their people have with the Japanese linked to the atomic bombing of 1945. She relates this in terms of a powerful bird being fed black eggs and "a fire so bright it left only their shadows on what was left of their homes" (pg. 24).

From A Blanket of Butterflies by Richard Van Camp, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, coloured by Donovan Yaciuk

Shinobu tells them the story of the creation of the sword by his 2 times great grandfather and his need to reclaim it before the August full moon. Because that full moon was that very night, the three head out together to Benny's. Again they are set upon but Sonny's grandmother is a formidable woman whose words stop the thugs. And with words and memories, as well as a blanket for Benny, Sonny's Ehtsi finds a connection between the men and the opportunity for benevolence.

From A Blanket of Butterflies by Richard Van Camp, illus. by Scott B. Henderson, coloured by Donovan Yaciuk

Originally published in 2015, A Blanket of Butterflies has been reissued with full colour, additional background information and cultural context. Still the story is fresh as an intersection of two cultures, one Indigenous and the other Japanese, and how they connect both on a historical and a more personal level. Richard Van Camp, Tłı̨chǫ Dene from Fort Smith NWT, has borrowed from his youth a story of an unlikely suit of samurai armour but he has developed it into a far greater story by asking a series of What If? questions. Sadly, how that suit was lost from a Japanese family is undoubtedly tied to the theft and seizure of the possessions of those interned. Still, Richard Van Camp doesn't emphasize that part of the story but rather the connections that both the Indigenous and Japanese communities have experienced through a history of loss and the substance of family. 

There is a darkness to this story because of that history and that loss. And that darkness comes through in Scott B. Henderson's illustrations, expertly coloured by Donovan Yaciuk. The artwork plays up the conflict that converts remarkably to connection both in its action, expression and colour.

The Spirit of Denendeh tells stories of the People of that land and A Blanket of Butterflies gives us glimpses into the natural and supernatural elements of those lives. I suspect that when Volume 2,  As I Enfold You in Petals, releases in April of this year, there will be another story from Denendeh, the Land of the People, again rooted in reality and upholding a legacy of kinship.

Cat's Cradle: The Golden Twine

Written and illustrated by Jo Rioux

First Second

978-1-250-62535-9

128 pp.

Ages 8-12

June 2022

 

Discovered as a foundling by some merchants in a travelling camp, Suri is both sheltered, by most of the merchants, and vilified, by the leader Leon. Like other kids in the camp, she tries to earn her keep, and telling stories is one of her occupations, though her aspiration is to be a monster tamer. In their valley of Galatea, protected by the mountain range called the Giant's Belt through which monsters occasionally enter via a gap named the Monster's Cradle, there are those who capture monsters for bounty. In fact, there is currently a monster being held captive, ready for sale to the Prince, in the wagon of a strange little man who clangs when he walks. (It is said he has a cold, dead heart that clangs in his chest.) But while telling her story to her paying customers, Suri takes them to the wagon to show them she isn't afraid of the monster. She not only approaches the creature who is only visible by its glowing eyes but she communicates with it and learns that, like her, it's lonely. That connection will serve her well.

From Cat's Cradle: The Golden Twine by Jo Rioux

After her encounter with the monster, she purchases a dragon’s tooth which she is assured will awaken great power within her. Still, while evading Leon, she meets a boy with a package of fish doughnuts and a pile of pillows he sells. When she starts telling him that she is a monster tamer and can recognize a caitsith–even when in human form they have a tail–the boy races away from her, leaving behind several items including a ball of golden twine which she uses to secure her dragon’s tooth as a necklace.

From Cat's Cradle: The Golden Twine by Jo Rioux

Later Suri is pursued by the boy and his friends for the return of his property. Convinced they want her dragon’s tooth, she takes shelter in the monster’s wagon before escaping with the creature’s help and beginning a new adventure away from the camp and heading into the land of the monsters to do a good deed and hopefully stay ahead of some nasty beasts, both human and monster, and become the monster tamer she aspires to be. 

 

This is Jo Rioux's first graphic novel as author and illustrator, having previously provided the compelling artwork for picture books like The Legend of Lightning and Thunder and graphic novels like The Daughters of Ys and A Sam and Friends Mystery series. Some may recognize the title, Cat's Cradle: The Golden Twine as a previous publication (Kids Can Press, 2012) but this edition has been reimagined and completely redrawn by Jo Rioux, making it fresh and new and ready to complete Suri's adventures in the remaining books of this trilogy. 

 

Middle-grade graphic novels are always a hit and especially when they include fantasy elements like jackalopes, leshii and basilisks, mythological creatures from across cultures. Then add a young protagonist who must deal with being abandoned and trying to find her place in the world and working towards a goal that others think impossible for a girl, and you've got a full story of empowerment, fantasy, and action. With Book 2, The Mole King's Lair, in the works, young readers should know soon enough how successful Suri is in her quests.

From Cat's Cradle: The Golden Twine by Jo Rioux

The Weird Sisters: A Note, a Goat, and a Casserole

Written by Mark David Smith

Illustrated by Kari Rust

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-456-6

72 pp.

Ages 7-10

April 2022 

Once upon a time there were three weird sisters: Hildegurp, the round one; Yuckmina, the bony one; and Glubbifer, the one whose knuckles dragged along the ground. Along with their cat Graymalkin, they moved into an old house in the town of Covenly and lived above their pet emporium business.

One day, a young girl, Jessica Nibley, seeks their help to locate her missing baby goat. After all, they knew about animals. But, along with that mystery is a mysterious note found on their doorstep; a neighbour named Cosmo Keene who doesn't like troublemakers and is sure the Weird Sisters are those; and a missing casserole dish of Jessica's teacher Chelsea Oh.

The Weird Sisters may be unusual in their appearance but their behaviour is a little unusual too. What they can pull out of their hats–like a flying broom or the Eye which will point them in the direction of answers–will astound but sadly they reveal to Jessica that they are trying to learn to not be bad witches. 

Will the Weird Sisters solve a mystery or two or will they become the mystery, at least to their neighbours in Covernly?

 

Early readers or early middle grade novels are very challenging to write well. Authors must  be cognizant of giving young children a great plot in a limited word count without the benefit of illustrations that carry the story and Mark David Smith has done this very well in The Weird Sisters: A Note, a Goat, and a Casserole. (Readers will love Kari Rust's black-and-white illustrations that lighten the text and add another element of fun but the art does not tell the story as would happen in picture books.)  How does Mark David Smith do this? Let's start with the plot. It's simple, with the characters seeking to answer three simple questions: Who wrote the note?; Where is the goat?; and What happened to the casserole? Then he's created characters who are quirky and memorable. Beyond the titular Weird Sisters, each one-of-a-kind, there's the poncho-wearing Jessica with her pet goat, the black licorice-loving, justice-driven Cosmo Keene, and the myopic Chelsea Oh. There's also Officer Golsa Nazeri and realtor Rupert Flinch. But for this reader, it's the word play that brought me the most joy. Kids know how confusing homophones can be but in a story in which misinterpretations arise because of those homophones or dual-meaning words, like kid for child and baby goat, and pen for writing and a farm enclosure, it's just entertaining. 

 

Looks like there's more Weird Sisters to come as The Weird Sisters: A Note, a Goat, and a Casserole is just the first book in the new series for young readers. The next mystery has Jessica helping the newly formed Three Sisters Pet Emporium + Detective Agency to solve another town crime so I anticipate more merriment and another well-received tale (or is that tail?) for younger middle grade readers.