Fairy Mary looked over the ears and proclaimed that they were very well made. I quickly reached into my satchel and donned my newest, most extraordinary ears! Tink looked hard and giggled when she saw herself and the pixie dust flying across the ears. When I walked in, the workshop was all a buzz with the work that needed to be done for Spring. While there is no mention of a sequel, subsequent volumes would certainly fly off the shelf faster than a speeding bullet, so here's hoping.It was great to spend time with Tink in her workshop! The lovable menagerie of crime-fighting pets offers lots of laughs and a boisterous and exuberant storyline Santat’s illustrations are clear, engaging and neatly stacked into easy-to-read panels. Shifty, the newest addition to the family, is a color-changing chameleon who adds a dose of comic relief. Metal Mutt) has a gruff exterior but is fiercely loyal. Manny the cat (who has the ability to electrocute bad guys) had run away after his beloved toy Nummers went missing, but the prodigal cat returns just in time to help the Captain. Fluffy, his hamster, has yet to discover his superpower, but this rodent has a lot of heart. Unbeknownst to Captain, his own pets are clamoring for the job (and for more quality time with their beloved owner). In so doing, Twig not only changes James’ fate, but her own, for the first time feeling the fullness of family, friends and hope for the future.Ī veritable bonanza of capes, heroes and pets with superpowers abounds in illustrator Santat’s first solo graphic novel.Ĭaptain Amazing, the muscled hero of Metro City, is aging, and after a botched takedown of four nefarious villains, he decides he is in need of a trusty sidekick. She is certain she knows how to change the curse. With the help of friends and through a series of self-realizations and discoveries, Twig grows more self-assured. The mix of romance and magic is irresistible and the tension, compelling. James and Agate seem as star-crossed as their ancestors, especially when the townspeople attribute a spate of petty thefts and graffiti protesting the development of the woods to the monster and launch a hunt. Longing for some normalcy and companionship, she befriends new-neighbor Julia while James falls in love with Julia’s sister, Agate-only to learn they are descendants of the Witch. Lonely Twig narrates, bringing the small town and its characters to life, intertwining events present and past, and describing the effects of the spell on her fractured family’s daily life. Twig and James are tired of the secret and self-imposed isolation. They were cursed by the Witch of Sidwell, left brokenhearted by their forebear Lowell Fowler. It’s her older brother, James, born with wings just like every male in the Fowler line for the last 200 years. There’s a monster in Sidwell, Massachusetts, that can only be seen at night or, as Twig reveals, if passersby are near her house. Sentimental, somewhat soggy, not very real. (Historical fiction. There’s no mention of gas rationing, for example, or how the war required farmers to grow more crops with fewer laborers and brought general prosperity to those who farmed. Keeping Charlotte offstage for nearly all the book makes her feel more like a plot device than a character-and why does Charlotte write letters to Pixie only when family members can hand-deliver them instead of putting them in the mail? Wartime details are sometimes missing or inaccurate. Pixie is a pleasant character, and her affection for her sister seems genuine, but the other emotional arcs in the story-Pixie’s blaming herself for her sister’s illness and most of Pixie’s interactions with her family and friends-feel somewhat forced and predictable. Charlotte stays nearly a year at a hospital in far-off Indianapolis while Pixie learns to get along without her sister, making friends with a boy whose older brother is fighting in the war, coming to appreciate Miss Beany, and raising an orphan lamb. Then, in late summer, Charlotte contracted polio, just like President Roosevelt. Last winter, after Mama died, the girls and their father moved to their grandparents’ farm. Prudence, called Pixie by her older sister, Charlotte, and her grandfather, can’t believe she has to start fifth grade with Miss Meany-Beany for a teacher and without her sister’s protection. A Midwestern farm girl deals with the upheaval of her mother’s death and her sister’s polio diagnosis.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |