The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue: Guest review

Written by Zoulfa Katouh

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

978-0316351942

368 pp.

Ages 12+ 

June 2026 

 

 

This guest review was written by Laura Krause.

 

A Powerful Read for Any Age 

 

YA fantasy is a genre that can be looked down upon or dismissed as marginal or insignificant. The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh is proof that this genre can be nuanced, elevated, and beautifully written.

This story of The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue follows a teen girl named Jihad who, in her high school senior year, is enrolled at a prestigious school by her father and sister. She is told that it will be an important step in securing her a coveted spot at her dream university. However, coming shortly after the death of her mother and being the only Muslim in a school of predominantly rich, white students, the transition is a tough one for Jihad. Sadly, her final year is overwhelmed by devastating bullying and abuse largely spurred by prejudice.

One bright light for Jihad in a school where she is bullied is her friendship with Jamie. As the main character, Jihad is brave, resilient, creative, and funny, but Jamie, who is probably my favourite book character from any book I’ve read this year, is a ray of hope and sunshine in an often heavy and emotionally charged story. He becomes her closest confidant and provides a lifeline for both Jihad and the reader during the most turbulent and hard-to-read sections of this novel. I became so attached to this supporting character, a Muslim convert who’d been raised by his Vietnamese grandmother, that I often annotated my review text with, “Why is Jamie so great?” and “Everyone needs a Jamie.” The Jamies in this world are those that help you through hard times and when you’re struggling to find your own voice.

As I read about the bullying that Jihad experiences, I had two very strong and different reactions. First, I wondered how teenagers could be so horrible and how could the adults be so terrible at protecting and advocating for all students. My second reaction was that I was actually not that surprised. Given the current political climate of the world, I could easily see this happening. Because bullying, whether racially motivated or otherwise, has always been a big problem for teens, this novel will resonate with them. Zoulfa Katouh does a phenomenal job at demonstrating that it is not the responsibility of the victims of bullying to educate those around them, because too often their pleas for help go unanswered. It is the responsibility of those with privilege to fight for those who have none. Onus is on the oppressor, not the oppressed. 

I’m reminded that much prejudice is rooted in ignorance. For example, if her classmates had learned why Jihad wears a hijab, their negative stereotypes might have been dispelled. In contrast, I was struck by the beauty of Jihad’s Syrian background, specifically the food and culture. With her friend Jamie having a Vietnamese connection, I now look forward to trying the numerous Syrian and Vietnamese dishes discussed, having learned much about these two cultures including their languages and history. It’s unfortunate that her classmates could not have given Jihad the same regard.

What distinguishes the story of The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue is that it is not only a story of bullying, but also a gorgeous work of magical realism. This sub-genre of fantasy, to which I was only recently introduced, is hard to write well. But Zoulfa Katouh writes it beautifully, making the story sing. Jihad’s mother could speak to jellyfish, and Jihad, herself a true artist, creates magical murals around the city. These whimsical brushes with the unexplained and the fantastic become powerful tools in Zoulfa Katouh’s hands, elevating the messages at the core of the book, drawing the reader in to Jihad’s story.

This novel is in the top three books I have read this year, and I am so grateful I was provided a copy for the purposes of this review. I now need to go pick up the author’s first novel, the award-winning As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2022). Our world needs more of Zoulfa Katouh’s profoundly emotional stories, which she tells with skill and heart.

• • • • • 

~ Laura Krause (or LauraK483 as she is known online) is an aspiring book editor with a background in live theatre. She obtained her BFA in Theatre Production and Design from York University, and a master’s degree in Stage and Event Management from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She is currently completing the Editorial Skills program at George Brown Polytechnic. When she isn't working or reading, she is likely streaming video games on her Twitch channel or planning her next TTRPG project.

 

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.

Soul Machine

Written and illustrated by Jordana Globerman

Annick Press

978-1-77321-959-2

228 pp.

Ages 12–16

June 2025 

 

In Chloe's world, souls are spun using wheels and the natural plant called breth. She and her family are in the business of soul making, though it's only her and her older sister Lacey since her father Morris left and her mother passed. And though Lacey still has to teach her younger sister all the steps to making souls, from getting the plants to spinning it, trimming it and packing it, Chloe has ambitions of becoming a CEO.

We just spin the threads, Chloe. As long as the mechanics of the soul remain a mystery, soul making stays an act of faith. (p. 8)

From Soul Machine, written and illustrated by Jordana Globerman

But their work has become more challenging. First, MCorp, a corporation led by Maya, a woman all aspire to be like, has been using a synthetic breth called Digibreth to make unlimited souls. Secondly, Lacey suspects that crops of breth are being poisoned by MCorp to force small businesses to become franchises of MCorp and weave Digibreth. Hoping to find a breth black market, Chloe heads to Metropolis, the busy city in which MCorp has its headquarters. There she is almost apprehended by the MCorp police for stealing but she is helped by Persie, one of the Nuspiritualist movement who protests against Maya and MCorp and works with others to heal and protect the natural breth.

From Soul Machine, written and illustrated by Jordana Globerman

Unbeknownst to Chloe, Maya has been watching Chloe and has her police follow her. As Maya and Persie travel towards the breth fields, including a stop at Paradise Found, a Digibreth test site where those test subjects promised spiritual optimization are now ghosts, Chloe becomes unwell. But when they reach their destination, parched and bereft of breth, Persie recognizes Chloe's father, from a photo in a locket, as the man who invented Digibreth.

 

While Persie is arrested, Chloe is taken to Maya. Maya, a cut-throat businesswoman, claims she  wants to help Chloe, asserting that she too needs Morris back as he is the only one who can fix the kinks in Digibreth. While Chloe appreciates the attention Maya pays her, she's starting to think there is much more to Maya's intentions, and she may be putting her family, both their business and their souls, at risk.

 

Soul Machine is Jordana Globerman's debut novel, and she's hit the scene with a powerful book of family and fantasy with a sampling of social commentary on choosing progress and celebrity over tradition and reliability. Chloe grapples with wanting success and fame but is challenged by what she sees in Maya and what she feels for her sister and family. In a society in which appearances are everything and better is best, Chloe is captivated, as many of our world are by popularity and fame. But Jordana Globerman has also given Chloe a soul that, when she must choose and act, she knows where her loyalties and her passions rest. And even though Maya sees the old world as deficient, she sees that as an opportunity for her.

"Your gen is all existential dread. It's a big market. (p. 110)

This new world has its own angst with the merging of state and self. The individual is becoming lost to those upheld as models of the best. Like many today, Maya is just capitalizing on it.

From Soul Machine, written and illustrated by Jordana Globerman

Jordana Globerman moves us through scenes of different atmospheres in Soul Machine with her colour choices, selecting one hue with different tints and shades for each set of circumstances. Metropolis and MCorp are all shown in pinks, perhaps reflecting those who see it all through rose-coloured glasses. The desolation of Paradise Found and the parched breth fields are depicted in a gold-puce-chartreuse. And home for Chloe and Lacey is teal. With her choice of colours and the strength of her illustrations that offer softness and harshness as appropriate, Jordana Globerman makes the reader think about our own society and the choices we make for ourselves and others. While many may not think about the metaphysics reflected in Soul Machine, Jordana Globerman actually presents opportunities to contemplate and discuss self and society, time and space, and reality as a whole—she appends her novel with "Questions with No Wrong Answers"—proving that her graphic novel, like many of other creators, is not "just" a comic book.

Astronautical!

Written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Annick Press

978-1-77321-942-4

248 pp.

Ages 8-12

May 2025 

 

In the Zephyr Galaxy a long time ago, the planet Zephyr exploded into chucks. The inhabitants were ever hopeful that the great Cynosure would fix it and reunite the Chunk Planets but a hundred years later, nothing has changed. The Zephyrians, which include everything from parrot-like beings to human-like creatures and stars with appendages, travel by vessels that look like sailing boats and ships between Chunk Planets. In fact, it's on a visit to the Star Bird store that Max and Lari's dad, Robert Cherryhair, is apprehended by Cynosure's security Foxes while the brothers are inside the store. So begins the story of Astronautical! and the boys' mission to find their father.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

With their own ship set aflame by Cynosure's Foxes, Max and Lari join twin yellow dwarf stars Dez and Ori on their ship, the Dove, intent on heading to Cynosure's hideout. But when you're travelling with twin stars one of whom rarely speak the truth and the other who believes almost everything–great lessons in fake news here–the journey is not a straightforward one. In fact, it is a drawn-out quest that takes them to different Chunk Planets, comets and more where they meet a blue supergiant star, a protostar and even a disguised black hole.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Even with obstacles thrown at them, the two boys, very different in their personalities, work together and discover that their differences are their strengths and would allow them to not only find their father but to also find a way to make things right for the Planet Zephyr.

From Astronautical! written and illustrated by Brooklin Stormie

Astronautical! is a rollicking middle-grade adventure for lovers of fantasy, astronomy, and good humour. The plot is wholly unpredictable, mostly because the characters range from human-like creatures to astronomical ones with the powers to alter their structures and abilities and interact with others. Brooklin Stormie, an artist from Peterborough, Ontario, has found an imaginative way to blend fantasy with science, merging a heroes' quest in a cosmic setting with legitimate elements of which young readers will want to learn more. (Brooklin Stormie includes extensive notes about sky-whales, black holes, star songs, and more in her appended notes called, "The Real Science (and Totally Not-Real Science) in Astronautical!") It's all very accessible, playful and captivating, and readers will never anticipate how it will end. 

Astronautical! is Brooklin Stormie's story but, as an illustrator, the artwork is what makes Astronautical! sparkle. Between weird characters and some strange abilities–though perhaps not really strange in an astronomical setting–as well as a variety of settings, from a convenience store to a desert, a planet separated into chunks, and more, Brooklin Stormie gives readers something fantastical and scientific. Quite extraordinary or, dare I say it, Astronautical!

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.

Misadventures in Ghosthunting

Written by Melissa Yue

HarperCollins

978-1-4434-7091-9

367 pp.

Ages 8-12

Releases August 27, 2024

 

Life had done nothing to prepare me for what to do if a ghost was trying to burn your house down. Even worse, I'd got no advice on what to do if your entire family didn't believe you could see ghosts but Grandma snuck you protective talismans like it was a black market dealing. (p. 19)

Emma Wong thought her greatest worry was the D she got on her Grade 9 math exam. But when a ghost of a young man shows up, calling her Lin Wai–her Chinese name is actually Yan Ling–and threatening to expose her exam if she didn't go with him, things get a little dicey. When she doesn't, Ghost Boy uses a calligraphy brush to write something in the air and starts a fire on the family's ancestral altar. She tells her family about the ghost-like boy but, for a family who doesn't believe in ghosts, she gets no support. Fortunately, best friend Michelle Zhang knows that Emma can see ghosts and wants to help. 

 

It's also fortunate–or is it?–that Emma meets Leon, a boy in a long peacoat with a messenger bag who claims to be a guardian whose job it is to help maintain stability in the world by monitoring ghosts in the Mortal Realm and he's there to help her. He confirms that she has the Sight i.e., the ability to sense ghosts, seeing them and getting physical sensations like headaches and nausea when they are near. He warns her about geoi hau gwai or hungry ghosts who were ungenerous mortals who search the Mortal Realm for offerings to sustain themselves. When Ghost Boy returns–his name is Henry–Emma unwittingly sends him back to the Underworld by striking him with a paper talisman her Mah Mah had always given her. Surprisingly Leon confirms that Emma is using a ghosthunting tool. 

Emma is so confused. Her family does not believe in ghosts and yet her grandmother always gave her protective talismans to ward off evil at entrances to buildings. Now she has Leon who is trying to protect her from Henry, a ghost hunter of the Underworld who works for one the Ten Lords there and whose job it is to rein in unruly ghosts who cause trouble. But why pick on Emma?

With Leon's protection and direction, Emma learns more about her family history and her own abilities, all with the objective of helping her much-loved grandmother and ultimately making things right for spirits in the Underworld.

 

I wish I could tell you everything that happens in Melissa Yue's debut novel but Misadventures in Ghosthunting is a big story. It's a story of family, familial expectations, and a grandmother-granddaughter relationship. It's one of Chinese culture and superstitions and the Ghost Festival and magic and glorious food. It's one of history, including a love story. And it's about making things right, even when you aren't responsible for making them wrong. Oh, and there's a splattering of robotics too. As I said, it's a big story, with layers in the present and in the past, in the Mortal Realm and in the Underworld, in the mundane teen world of school and parental expectations and in one of needle-mouth ghosts and immortals. And Melissa Yue tells it with humour, cultural respect, and familial devotion. 

A family is built from shared memories. (p. 342)

Through all her characters, mortal and not, Melissa Yue embeds us in their stories, finding goodness in some that might appear evil and flaws in some that are generally good. All her characters are fully developed. They make mistakes, take chances, have weakness and lack in confidence. They also do their jobs, even unusual ones, make connections with others, have pasts, and always look for something more. They are human, even if they're immortal.

 

It's hard to parse out everything in Misadventures in Ghosthunting because there is so much but Melissa Yue gives middle-grade readers a story that is full and intricate with characters and subplots and history and that little bit of magic. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, you'll cheer for Emma and her allies in their attempts at righteousness and for the defeat of evil. I don't know if anyone was celebrating the Ghost Festival just over a week ago but honouring the dead with offerings sounds like a wise rite to observe, especially when the consequences of not doing so could be overwhelming. Emma knows.

• • • • • • •

 

Look for my interview with author Melissa Yue tomorrow here on CanLit for LittleCanadians. She reveals much about her writing and the story, as well as some important background about the cultural traditions and framework used as a basis for Misadventures in Ghosthunting.

Night of the Living Rocks (The Lunch Club #7)

Written and illustrated by Dom Pelletier

Scholastic Canada

978-1-0397-0599-9

136 pp.

Ages 7-10

June 2024

 

Another serving of The Lunch Club? Yes, please.

From Night of the Living Rocks, written and illustrated by Dom Pelletier

Tia, Leo, and Mr. Peabody are on a mission to save their alien friend Ariel who has been kidnapped by the wicked sorceress Madame Celeste who gets her magical powers from crystals and who is determined to control everyone. She'd already used a spell book and mystic crystals to create "friends" for herself by transforming rocks into living rocks who mine her crystals, but she also has Ariel who has been transformed into Mr. Fish, Guardian of the constellation Pisces, and turned Snookums into the Guardian of Leo, convinced that if she controls the twelve zodiac signs then she will control the future.

From Night of the Living Rocks, written and illustrated by Dom Pelletier

Tia, Leo, and Mr. Peabody sneak into her underground lair to free their friends but find more than they expected. Not only do they realize that Madame Celeste is stockpiling all variety of mystic crystals, that can do everything from cause explosions, to give life to rocks, and cause invisibility, they learn of Madame Celeste's latest discovery: an ancient grimoire, or spell book, that speaks of a thirteenth zodiac sign, the snail, being far more powerful than all the rest.

So, not only do they have to save their friends and return them to their old forms, but they must also save the world from a potential takeover from a powerful sorceress who is obsessed with compelling friendships she never had as a child.

From Night of the Living Rocks, written and illustrated by Dom Pelletier

There's a lot to Dom Pelletier's latest volume in his middle-grade graphic novel series. (See below for the complete list to date.) Beyond his quirky artwork, Dom Pelletier has given us a story of another fantastic mission of fighting evil while supporting friends. The premise of mystic crystals, transformational rocks, and aliens firmly places Night of the Living Rocks into the supernatural realm, though the other worlds support a fantasy genre. Regardless, by having regular kids, one smart and the other cheeky, with a school custodian, brings the story to the mundane and familiar for readers. But the supernatural gives us the humour in the impossible, the silliness of the circumstances, and moxie to cheer for the defeat of evil and a power-hungry villain. Most of all, readers will laugh themselves silly. From Leo becoming invisible and shedding his clothes except for his heart-covered underpants, and the living rocks a.k.a. Rockies being thrilled when they are turned back to rocks–there are exclamations of "Hurray!","At last!" and "Finally!"–Night of the Living Rocks rocks with goofiness that is absurdly natural. (Yeah, because we all know about fighting sorceresses and helping aliens.) With Dom Pelletier's wacky illustrations that are reminiscent of light comedic action cartoons with their brash characters, weird adventures, ringing sound effects, and skirmishes a plenty, Night of the Living Rocks demonstrates to us that the Lunch Club has lots more missions and adventures ahead of them if they are to keep evil at bay and laughter in our bellies.

 

• • • • • • •

The Lunch Club

#1 It Came From the Basement
#2 The Curse of the Scarewolf
#3 The Mutant Mouse from Outer Space
#4 Revenge of the Bigfoot
#5 The Return of the Mummy

#6 The Swamp Thingy

#7 Night of the Living Rocks

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.

Cat's Cradle: The Mole King's Lair

Written and illustrated by Jo Rioux

First Second

978-1-250-62538-0

256 pp.

Ages 8-12

June 2023

When we met twelve-year-old Suri, the would-be monster tamer, in Jo Rioux's first Cat's Cradle book, The Golden Twine, she had purchased a dragon's tooth that she hung from some golden twine she'd discovered. She believed that tooth gave her incredible powers and would enable her to become the monster tamer she was destined to be. 

From Cat's Cradle: The Mole King's Lair by Jo Rioux

Now Suri is heading to the Monster's Cradle, the land of the giants, to help find a giant for whom her companion Byron, the monster-dog, could be a lap dog. Created by a greedy imp named Caglio, Byron is a lovable but massive dog with few monster tendencies, but he is threatening enough for the prince and his entourage to pursue for monster-hunting sport. But, not only is the trio being followed by the hunters, there are also three caitsiths named Siska, Toska and Mouska who are following them, determined to retrieve the golden twine Mouska had dropped.

From Cat's Cradle: The Mole King's Lair by Jo Rioux

When Suri, Caglio and Byron are confronted with a monster, Byron takes off and Suri and Caglio hide in a mountain cave which Suri believes must belong to the Mole King, according to her monster guidebook. She tries to use the power of her dragon tooth to ward off the Mole King but it's only when Byron reappears, and she feels intensely that it works for her. They soon meet Kolya, a young thief, who had been stealing from the Mole King's treasure room filled with gold coins–this gets Caglio's attention–which explains the Mole King's anger. But when they open Kolya's one bag they realize all he grabbed was a small, three-legged table.

From Cat's Cradle: The Mole King's Lair by Jo Rioux

Suri and her companions now head into the tunnels of the Mole King's lair, but their motives are all a little different. Suri just needs some gold to pay for food as they journey. Caglio just wants money. And Kolya is stealing so that he might redeem himself with the leader of his thieving ring. But Kolya is also drawn to the golden twine he saw in Suri's bag. If he is a caitsith, that golden twine would be handy in disguising his monster-ness. 

 

But going after the treasure is not as simple as finding their way to the treasure room. The prince is still determined to hunt a monster and is now accompanied by Toska, Siska and Mouska as his trackers and by the people of the impoverished town of Tancredi who'd lost many families and friends to the mines of the mountain. It's now a race to the treasure and to capturing a monster while a ball of gold twine draws attention from the caitsiths and Kolya. Who can work together and who cannot will undoubtedly determine the outcome for Suri and others in The Mole King's Lair, and in Book 3, Suri's Dragon.

From Cat's Cradle: The Mole King's Lair by Jo Rioux

Jo Rioux has given us a full range of characters from spunky Suri who wants to be a monster tamer, to the freaky Caglio who is all about himself, the cuddly Byron, the farcical prince and his courtiers, the caitsiths, and new characters like Kolya and his leader Lutrov. There's more coming with hints of a relationship between Lutrov and Toska and someone called Baron Grim. There's a lot of story here and Jo Rioux weaves it together flawlessly, taking us from Suri and her group to the prince and his entourage, from the Mole King's lair to the town and the forests. The story is engaging and will keep middle-grade readers engrossed with who is doing what and why and do they know what the others are up to. Nothing is straightforward except Suri who just wants to be a monster tamer and do the right thing, whatever that might be.

 

Like The Golden Twine, The Mole King's Lair is a delight for graphic-novel fans. It has a little bit of everything, from sweet characters and monsters, and idiots and villains, to dark scenes and humour, and a pursuit or two that keeps the action strong and the adventure compelling. Jo Rioux's artwork gives us all of this with expressive faces that show fear and trepidation, suspicion and affection. Readers will laugh when Byron gobbles up Caglio when he insults the dog, or when Caglio explains his origin–"I congealed in a cauldron of bone soup that spoiled on the fire" (pg. 86)–and cheer when the prince is trampled by Byron. There is so much to engage the young reader and all with a degree of innocence and humanity, even for monsters.

I don't know when Suri's Dragon comes out but, after The Golden Twine and The Mole King's Lair, I know there's lots more story to come and adventures and laughs from Jo Rioux. I'll be cheering for Suri and Byron–not so much Caglio–and hoping that their dreams come true.

 

Cat's Cradle: The Golden Twine (2022)

Cat's Cradle: The Mole King's Lair (2023)

Cat's Cradle: Suri's Dragon (still to come)

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.

 

• • • • • •

The Grace of Wild Things

Written by Heather Fawcett

Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-314262-6

360 pp.

Ages 8-13

February, 2023

Grace Greene, who has been raised in the Rose & Ivy Home for Unwarded Children in Charlottetown since being abandoned by her parents, is determined to find a home with the witch who lives in the woods at Brook-By-the-Sea. The freckled twelve-year-old with a great imagination and love of words and reading is sure the witch will help her develop her own magical gifts. Grace just needs some guidance, especially as she is convinced she is the bad kind of witch because she can make people's see their worst memories. Though the witch, known to her neighbours as Miss Evelyn Puddlestone, is reluctant to have anything to do with Grace, she gives in when Grace shows some skills. She agrees to train Grace if the child can prove her gift is great, casting every spell in the witch's grimoire before the next blooming of an old cherry tree in spring. That leaves the child only nine to ten months to cast one hundred and a half spells or the witch would claim of all Grace's magic for her own.

With her poetry-loving crow Windweaver and the accidental help of a fairy she calls Rum, Grace begins to make herself at home at the witch's cottage. She is befriended by Sareena Khalil who lives at the farm next door with her parents and four-year-old sister invisible-pretending Daisy Bean. With the help of the children, her crow, and the fairy, Grace begins to make her way through the challenging grimoire. 

But, like a famous red-haired orphan of PEI to whom Heather Fawcett pays homage, Grace runs into trouble time and time again. She always intends to do good and behave but her temper sometimes gets the better of her, especially when she is criticized for her looks or behaviour. There's the snarky Mrs. Charity Crumley upon whom she spills ice cream that is now milked from their cow. There's the bully Poppy whom Grace goes after for making younger children cry. And there's the unfortunate brewing of a potion that spills on Sareena and leaves her drunk. 

 

Still, Grace is tenacious about making a home for herself at Brook-By-the-Sea. With her big heart and good intentions like helping heal the ill witch and deal with a woman claiming the witch as a squatter on her land, Grace has much work ahead of her.

For fans of Anne of Green Gables, the story of The Grace of Wild Things is rich with familiar elements of L. M. Montgomery's classic novel of the PEI orphan looking for a true home. She's freckled and imaginative, talkative, passionate, and sensitive. She has altercations with a local busybody, puts her friendship at risk by accident, and makes a friend of a former bully. But The Grace of Wild Things is much more than just an homage to Anne of Green Gables as those unfamiliar with the classic Canadian novel will instantly recognize. Heather Fawcett writes a fantastic story of magic, challenges, friendship, and home. The writing is superb, eloquent in its heart and richness of language.

Do you think one can have too much imagination? It seems to me it's rather like having too much lemon shortbread or too many flowers in your garden. After all, if you have too little imagination, you'd spend your life finding fault with everything, like Mrs. Spencer does, instead of noticing that there are beautiful things in the world alongside the horrible ones. (pg. 17)

Heather Fawcett, the acclaimed author of The Language of Ghosts and Ember and the Ice Dragons, blends fantasy with the mundane and creates a world in which an orphan seeks home and magical guidance. Forget the parallels with Anne of Green Gables and you still have an extraordinary story of courage and friendship, albeit swaddled in magic. With complex characters who are neither good nor bad and whose demeanours speak of human frailties and strengths, Heather Fawcett helps readers see themselves in those characters. Grace's story may be her own–unique from Anne herself–but, like the rest of us, she is looking for connection and purpose. With the help of the witch, her new friends and even an adversary or two, Grace becomes the witch she was always meant to be.