Robyn is a tinkerer. She loves building things with her dad, but since her dad's job has taken up most of his time lately, Robyn is on her own. One night after Robyn sneaks out as usual to head to the junkyard to find a voltage adapter for a project, things seem a bit off. Usually dodging the guards and scaling the fence are fun endeavors, but this night the guards are more soldier-esque than usual. And this time when she made it over the fence, there was a dog.
Luckily Robyn is a prepared girl, and has a pocket full of bacon to keep the dog at bay. True, the bacon was orignally for Robyn's friend Barclay who calls the junkyard his home, but Robyn is thankful she packed it.
It turns out that changes are afoot in a much more far ranging way than just upped security in the junkyard. This night comes to be called the Night of Shadows, and what it is is a coup. The standing government and all of the members of parliament are rounded up and/or killed. Robyn's father works for the government.
When she races home, she finds a horrifying sight. Her empty house is in shambles and her parents are gone. All that is left is a puddle of blood in the kitchen. Robyn is a wanted girl.
Now Robyn is forced to try to remember all of the warnings her father gave her that she only half listened to. The ones that started with "If anything ever happens to me and your mother...". Upon hearing strangers back in her house she takes the few items from her safe and takes off into the forest.
What comes next is an adventure that will keep readers up well into the night. Solitary Robyn must learn that sometimes it's okay (and necessary) to trust others. Her group of friends must learn to live by their wits and manage to help others who may not be so resourceful along the way.
Magoon has reimagined the world of Robin Hood in an alternate time period and has woven in technology and the idea of the big brother very well. Readers do not need to be familiar with the original tale to have a rip roaring time, but the ones who are familiar will likely be pleased with the reimagining of many of the main characters. Magoon has also woven in moon lore as an aspect of the world building that brings an air of fantasy to the whole story.
I cannot wait for the next installment of this exciting story!
Theodora Tenpenny may live in Manhattan, but it's not a glamorous existence for her. She lives in a ramshackle house with her absent minded math genius mother and her grandfather Jack. But right on page 4, Jack is killed and leaves Theo only with the dying message of "Look under the egg."
Not much for a 13 year old who is trying to keep it together to go on. So between gardening, taking care of her chickens and pickling for food, scanning the streets for useful objects and caring for her mother, Theo needs to unravel what her grandfather's wishes were.
Theo is up in her grandfather's art studio one day trying to figure out the mystery when a mouse runs up her leg and she jumps up and spills some rubbing alcohol on one of Jack's paintings - the painting unlike his other paintings. The egg. As Theo desperately tries to clean the rubbing alcohol off, the colors smear and smudge and she is devastated at losing this last bit of Jack. But when she looks closely she realizes that under the egg, a different painting is revealing itself. Could this be what Jack's dying words were about?
Theo is at a neighborhood diner owned by a friend of Jack's where she forms an unlikely friendship with Bodhi - another 13 year old who has just moved down the block and happens to have Hollywood parents. Where Theo's existence is positively Little House on the Prairie, Bodhi's is the Jetsons in comparison. Theo surprisingly lets Bodhi in on the secret painting, and soon with Theo's art history knowledge and Bodhi's internet skills, they are on the trail to the truth.
Woven into the text are explanations of fine art, as well as bits of history involving WWII. There are also real life bits of NYC living including the Staten Island Ferry, Grace Church, the Met and the Jefferson Market Library. All of these true things had me actually google
Spinney Lane to see if it was one of those Manhattan streets I've walked by a million times but not walked down.
This is a solid summer mystery with a really fantastic sense of place.
How can you not love this title? And this gorg cover?
Aplanap is one heck of a place to live. Seemingly quaint, it’s known for its “tilted streets, cuckoo clocks, and Finster cheese…” (arc p.3) yet it harbors a bit of a dark secret. Okay, not so much a secret, but a mayor who is slightly certifiable in his disdain for beggars (who are instantly banished to the working jail of Mount Xexnax) and his love for his greedy wife Ludmilla.
Ludmilla is quite fond of gems, and since she is the mayor’s wife, she need not pay for anything that she wants. When the mayor hears about an exquisite shoe that local shoemaker Grel has fashioned out of all sorts of blue gemstones, he insists on seeing it. Not surprisingly, he then wants it wrapped and delivered to his sweet Luddy. Grel refuses and the mayor reminds him of the agreement he made prior. Grel had saved the life of a pickpocket boy named Hap by promising to apprentice him on the agreement that he would in turn give Luddy any shoes that she wants. Grel stands his ground, however, since the stranger who commissioned this one shoe paid for it in full – he asks the mayor if he really would like to steal it (thievery being frowned upon in Aplanap by way of Mound Xexnax as well).
Before long a curse seems to fall on the sleepy little village. The weather turns making tourists scarce, and soon there are actually beggars on the street. Hap feels a kinship with a beggar girl who he spies, and tries to help her several times before she gets caught by the mayor’s police for begging. Hap remembers Grel’s kindness to him, and decides that taking a gem from the shoe that has never been picked up to pay the girl’s fine is worth the risk. What Hap doesn’t count on is all of the gems fading into regular river pebbles on the removal of the single stone. Hap again is charged as a thief, this time with the disastrous sentence of Mount Xexnax.
Roderick Townley has written a fantastical adventure that is filled with action, close calls, magic and a dash of romance. Truly a rollicking read, The Blue Shoe has equal appeal to boys and girls, and is a fun single volume (shocking!) fantasy. I found myself reading well into the night wanting to see what Hap and his friends were going to do next. Illustrations by Mary Grand Pre bring this book to the next level. While I read the arc version, the first edition will be printed in blue ink and have a cover worthy of the shoe. Good versus Evil hasn’t been so rich in a while!
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, thieves, socio economic class, race struggles, fantasy, Goddess, greed, cobblers, politics, arc 10/09
I saw this one at ALA and am really looking forward to it. I'm glad it lives up to my expectations. Thanks for the review.
Hey GBTQ: I really liked it! I can't wait to see the final product.