Wow! My middle-grade reading is going strong this year.
Presenting the third compilation of 2022!
*This is the first novel in a series.*
As if there isn’t already enough on his plate going to
school and helping at his parents’ successful Brooklyn deli while continuing to
deal with the grief associated with his older brother, Mo, dying unexpectedly,
13-year-old Sikander (Sik) Aziz suddenly finds himself the target of
disease-ridden demons. The demons are the servants of Nergal, the Mesopotamian
god of plagues. Nergal believes that Sik holds the key to immortality, but Sik
thinks that is absurd. He knows nothing about any of that. It doesn’t stop
Nergal and his minions from releasing an incurable plague on New York City with
his parents as Patients Zero. Fortunately, Sik isn’t alone. There’s Belet, the
adopted daughter of Ishtar, Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, her sword,
Kasusu, and Daoud, his late brother’s best friend, a vain, would-be actor who’s
been typecast as a terrorist. There’s even the famed hero Gilgamesh, who
resides in Central Park, tending his impressive greenhouse. He has no plans to
come out of retirement, enjoying his pacifist, vegan-baking lifestyle, though
Sik will keep trying to convince him. He desperately wants his help. With grief
still pouring over him, New York under attack from a terrible
pestilence and his parents’ and their family’s deli specifically targeted
by Nergal and company, how will Sik manage to retrieve the Flower of
Immortality? Because conquering wily demons, dangerous gods and one’s own deep,
dark nightmares isn’t exactly a walk in the park.
Originally
thinking this was a standalone, I’m thrilled it’s the first in a series, because
it’s A-MA-ZING. Mythology is so fascinating and to be introduced to
Mesopotamian mythology, which isn’t widely recognized like, say, Greek or Norse
mythology, drew me in right away. With the novel’s exploration of strong
familial connections, the weight of grief and the accumulating responsibilities
on a young teen since his brother’s death, the story provided another layer of
depth and nuance. The plot is fueled with apocalypse-like drama, multiple
skirmishes/battles and the icky, oozing word pictures of Nergal and his demons.
The action starts off like a plunge on a rollercoaster and doesn’t stop until
the story’s end. The story also benefits from lots of humor and a superb cast
with distinctive primary and secondary characters. The story includes
instances of Islamophobia, and readers can tell that the Muslim identity is a
central theme. The Arabic words and phrases were fun to come across, and there’s
a convenient glossary near the back to help with pronunciations and meanings.
Chadda’s story of a Muslim hero and the inclusivity he showcases is engaging
and certainly relevant to our time, even down to a plague god making his
literary debut during a pandemic! We may not have originally known
that “City of the Plague God” was on the menu, but I’m glad it’s a Rick
Riordan Presents book that I ordered. It is outrageously entertaining.
Hollowpox: The Hunt
for Morrigan Crow (Oct. 27, 2020) by Jessica Townsend.
*This is the third novel in a series.*
It’s been a strange and wondrous journey through Nevermoor
for Morrigan Crow and her fellow scholars in Unit 919 of the Wundrous Society.
No longer is it a secret that Morrigan’s a Wundersmith, she and her
friends have helped bring down the Ghastly Market and now she embarks on a new,
thrilling challenge. She will begin studying the mysterious Wundrous
Wretched Arts with Rook Rosenfeld, she being of the same being as Ms. Dearborn and
Mrs. Murgatroyd. Morrigan looks forward to learning to control the Wunder that
could otherwise consume her. She doesn’t want that, doesn’t want to become like
Ezra Squall. For all that she’s gained since coming to Nevermoor, plenty still
mistrust her Wundrous ability to use Wunder. She has her concerns, too, but
they will take a backseat to a frightening illness with no known origin that is
infecting Wunimals (Wunimals are sentient, self-aware, intelligent creatures
capable of talking, etc., as humans are) and turning them into vicious
Unnimals, primed to attack anyone in their vicinity. There is someone who says
he can help Morrigan, but he’s the one who gave Wundersmiths a bad name.
The junior
endeavor in the Nevermoor series is a blockbuster middle-grade
tale that’s a simmering pot of magic, adventure
and magnificent world-building. It’s a tale that champions bravery
and confidence, even as Morrigan struggles to find ease in accessing
Wunder and grapples with her emotions. There is suspense, but never
anything frightening, and Townsend’s story is detailed and enchanting, but also
delightfully zany and charmingly eccentric. I so look forward to the next
installment!
Book 1: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
Book 2: The Calling of Morrigan Crow
Sal & Gabi Break
the Universe (Mar. 5, 2019) by Carlos Hernandez.
*This is the first novel in a series.*
It’s only the third day at Culeco Academy of the Arts (a
magnet school in the middle of Miami), Salvador Alberto Dorado Vidón’s new
school, and he’s in the principal’s office for the third time. He’s most
recently caused a stir by making a raw chicken appear in Yasmany
Robles’ locker without anyone seeing him do so, and that incident stemmed from
Yasmany bullying Sal. Sal is a magician, but the chicken incident remains
suspicious. Gabrielle Reál, student council president/editor of the school
newspaper, seems to be onto him, and she tries to trick him with her lie
detector test, but when he answers “I ripped a hole in the space-time continuum
and borrowed a chicken from another universe,” it acknowledges that Sal’s
speaking with honesty. How? After a case of low blood sugar (Sal is a Type I
diabetic) manifests Mami Muerta (she used to be Mami Viva ...
when she was alive), Sal winds up in the ER (not his first rodeo there). When
he wakes late at night, famished, he tries to sneak by the nurse’s station, but
Nurse Dulce Sotolongo catches him. Fortunately, she brings him to Reina Reál, a
Cuban mother, and she feeds him. So. Much. (“I had said the magic word:
“starving.” Say that to a Cuban mother sometime. I dare you.”) She treats him
like he’s her own, and it turns out she’s Gabi’s mom, and they’re there
celebrating Gabi’s baby brother’s one-month-old birthday, Ignacio (Iggy) Reál.
With Gabi at the hospital as much as she can – and all of her “Gabi dads,” too
– Sal finds himself spending even more time there (outside of being a patient
and putting on magic shows for young patients). They create a play for theatre
class. When Iggy takes a turn for the worse, and he isn’t going to make it,
Gabi prompts Sal to break the universe to fix Iggy. The thing is, Sal
doesn’t know how! He doesn’t even know how he brings different Mami Muertas
from other universes! But that’s the thing for Sal. The multiverse is real, and
he can see them, access them. His dad is a calamity physicist and knows to test
for calamitrons, but can Sal figure
out a way to access the multiverse without causing rips in it and make Iggy
healthy?
I am
annoyed with myself for taking so long to read this story! It’s an
amalgamation of humor (including fart jokes) and witty dialogue with
compassion and some learning and a storyline that flows seamlessly across
the multiverse. Hernandez has created an immersive world of imagination that is
balanced with a character who is great at employing magic, is practically
magical himself, but deals with Type I diabetes, a very real thing. This was my
first story by Hernandez, and he makes telling stories look so easy. This is
another win for the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, and I can go
right into reading the next story, for I already have it!
P.S. If I
were a “Gabi dad” (because women can be Gabi dads, too), what might my name be?
.jpg)
