Not to be left
out, middle-grade (MG) novels have been making their run on my bookshelves.
Here is 2019’s third MG compilation.
Escape from the Isle of the Lost (June 4, 2019) by Melissa de la Cruz.
*This is the fourth novel in a series.*
Oh how far they’ve
come! Where once Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos looked toward nothing but living up
to their wicked upbringing and villainous parents, they have made positive
names for themselves and are looking toward graduation. Mal is Lady Mal,
learning the customs of Auradon royalty at her boyfriend’s side, Auradon’s King
Ben. Evie, ever a delight, has expanded into creating custom graduation gowns
for her classmates and is working toward saving for something specific. Jay,
never knowing what it meant to be a team player before Auradon, finds himself
with an unbelievable option: go pro with R.O.A.R. or pursue it at university?
And Carlos, well, Carlos is a year behind the other three, so he’ll remain at
Auradon Prep, but he’s got a charming girlfriend in Jane, daughter of Fairy
Godmother. It’s too bad that Uma hasn’t been seen recently. What evil is she
plotting beneath the waves? Hint: She’s found threads of magic and convinces
Hades to team up with her. Will she finally overtake Mal and exact her revenge?
The fourth Disney Descendants novel, “Escape from the Isle
of the Lost” is as delightful as a confectionery full of sweets. This
middle-grade novel isn’t the type where evil curdles your insides and makes you
want to keep the light on. There is maniacal laughter, threatening words and
even a mind-controlling spell, but the tone continues to side with the light.
Fun, adventure and friendship continue to rule the story (as does the teenage
king). A must-have for current fans; potential new fans will want to start the
series at the beginning.
Book One: Isle of the Lost
Book Two: Return to the Isle of the
Lost
Book Three: Rise of the Isle of the Lost
*This is the third novel in an unofficial series.*
When her parents
fall on hard times, Susannah “Sukie” O’Dare and her parents move in with her
91-year-old Cousin Hepzibah in the ancient, spacious Thorne Mansion. Rumor is
that it’s haunted. And it is. Hepzibah understands Sukie where her parents
wouldn’t. Sukie can see and communicate with her deceased sister, Kitty. As in
life, Kitty aims to protect Sukie, but ghosts can’t change, so it’s upsetting
as Sukie changes. Kitty often appears at will, but Sukie can summon her with a
whistle she gave her before her death. It turns out that Sukie doesn’t only
have a sensitivity to Kitty’s ghost. There are objects that she responds to
when she touches them. She even finds out she can fly on a Hawthorne broom,
which has been in the family for generations. She meets Dr. Elizabeth Rew and
Andre Merritt of the New-York Circulating Material Repository at a flea market,
along with their large “dog,” Griffin, and they become an invaluable help,
along with classmate Cole Farley, who has seemingly matured from the boy who
tormented her in the past. Sukie (“Spooky,” according to Cole) and Cole may
have descended from fictional literary characters and are themselves connected
by Windy (Sukie’s relation) and Phinny (Cole’s relation), whose story is tragic
and also unfinished. With the help of her new friends, can Sukie find Windy’s
treasure? What will Sukie discover about literary materials being “real,”
including entire haunted houses, and her family’s own Thorne Mansion?
Succeeding Shulman’s “The Grimm
Legacy” and “The Wells Bequest,” this is a delightful middle-grade edition to
that set. I have loved the modern fantasy of each of the stories, the humor and the adventure, the lilt and
imagination. Hints of a youthful budding romance are present but not noisome.
Though I haven’t read most of the stories referenced, I enjoyed how cleverly
Shulman wove in all the literary references. It’s always fun to see familiar characters
from the other stories, though it can be read as a standalone. It’s its own
treasure of supernatural shenanigans and fantastical exploration. I don’t
expect I’d be alone in wishing that the New-York Circulating Material
Repository were a real place, where I could check out the seven-league boots or
a magic carpet or maybe just stay overnight in a haunted house and meet the
retired repositorian neighbors living in other haunted houses in the Poe Annex.
Walk quickly through the Lovecraft Corpus, though.
Book One: The Grimm Legacy
Book Two: The Wells Bequest
*This is the fourth in a series and the first of them featuring a different
author.*
When one male is
conscripted into service from each family, Fa Mulan steals away into the night
to take her injured father’s place. She goes with nothing more than her
father’s armor, his sword, Mushu – the family’s guardian dragon – and Cri-Kee –
her lucky cricket. They ride Khan, her trusty steed. Women do not serve in the
military, so she goes as Ping, the son that her family never talked about.
Mulan proves her mettle as Ping and is dedicated to her regiment, so when
Captain Li Shang is grievously wounded, she travels to Diyu to bargain with its
ruler, King Yama. (Diyu, in Chinese mythology, is their underworld.) She
travels there with ShiShi, the guardian of the Li family, normally noted as a
great stone lion. King Yama declares she can bring Shang back, but only if she
makes it before sunrise, otherwise she will remain in Diyu forever and neither
her family nor her friends will ever know what befell her. The obstacles in
their way will try to trick her into remaining, trap her or even cause her
death. Time already seems too short. Will it be just enough to save Shang and
herself? Or will she soon count herself among Diyu’s residents?
In this twisted tale from Disney and
author Elizabeth Lim, the beloved “Mulan” classic is turned on its head. I
wasn’t sure what to expect, so I was pleased that I enjoyed the tale. It was
fast-paced and maintained Mulan’s warrior strength while still giving her
something to grapple with. This tale is an adventure where the girl saves the
boy; no damsels-in-distress here! As it’s Disney, the readers know that any
ominous situations are going to right themselves later, so there’s no reason to
worry about the fate of the characters. I enjoy a twisted fairytale done well,
and I thought this one was done tastefully. Readers will recognize scenes from
the 1998 film as flashbacks to Mulan’s life, thus making the character even
more familiar.
This is a book that I've been looking at in the bookstore, but want to start at the beginning with book one. This one is the fourth book in the series.
ReplyDeleteEscape of the Isle- This is the fourth installment of this series. I personally enjoy this series. Love the Descendant concept of the villain kids and the challenges they face because they're villain kids. Escape of the Isle introduces some new VKs and a lead to future stories/ new parts of the Isle/ adventures for the next chapter in the series.
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