The Midnight Gate

April 1, 2011

Continuing where Spellbinder (2009) left off, Belladonna, and her Paladin, Steve Evans, are stuck in regular school now after all their adventures. There's still the ghost Elsie for entertainment, but life seems somewhat dull after saving the world. When given a parchment by the apparition of a monk at a monastery with clues about a threat to all mankind, the games begin for the duo again. As before, the matter-of-fact tone and world-weary attitude contrast nicely with the evil and other-worldly forces. In a narrative full of words with capital letters, Belladonna and Steve must unravel the clues, battle against the return of the Dark Times and go to the House of Ashes and find the Queen of the Abyss for help. It's All a Bit Much. Belladonna is placed with a suspect foster family when her ghost parents disappear along with her live grandmother. Steve's mum has vanished since the close of the first book, but Steve seems unconcerned. There's a lively struggle to save the world on the eve of the Day of the Crows, though, when spaces between the Nine Worlds are closest together and it takes Words of Power to succeed. Best reserve this one for those enamored of the series opener and fans of British-flavored fantasy. (Fantasy. 9-13)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

May 1, 2011

Gr 5-7-This exciting and adventurous fantasy begins two months after the events in Spellbinder (Feiwel & Friends, 2009). Belladonna, 12, has discovered that she's the Spellbinder, destined to prevent the Empress of the Dark Spaces from entering this realm and allowing chaos to reign. She is assisted by classmate Steve, designated her Paladin and charged with protecting her from harm. Both are untutored in their powers and struggling to master them on their own. Unlike Steve, Belladonna is shy and introverted and considered weird by her fellow students at her British school. Ever since her parents died tragically two years earlier and came back as ghosts, she's been able to see and talk to them, along with many other magical creatures. Ostensibly living with her grandmother, but in actuality alone with her ghostly parents, she's forced into foster care when the authorities find out. She's taken in by a couple who seem okay but Belladonna suspects they aren't what they seem. After her ghostly parents and grandmother disappear, she and Steve embark on a quest to the Land of the Dead and attempt to reach the Queen of the Abyss, whom they hope can help them. This inventive story, full of fresh and funny fantasy elements and with a twist, is, at its heart, about a girl who just wants to fit in and be accepted. Fans will be happy to know that Belladonna's adventures continue in the next book in the series.-Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2011
Grades 5-8 Though reminiscent of Rick Riordans Percy Jackson books, Stringers sequel to Spellbinder (2009) is firmly rooted in English school traditions. Orphaned Belladonna lives with the loving ghosts of her parents in a charmingly surreal mix of earthbound and postlife worlds. Belladonna and friend Steve get help from the schools resident Victorian-era ghost, solve riddles in a monastery, battle harpies and a manticore, and call on the Wild Hunt for advice. Stringers vivid descriptions and irreverent nods to all sorts of mythology, along with well-paced cliffhangers throughout, are just right for fantasy and adventure buffs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)