Beast & Crown

June 15, 2017
A servant boy and his friends want to break free of a life of bowing and scraping--but at what cost? Boot boy Jiyong, stable girl Sally, and governess Rozario dream of living lives that matter, and trying to rescue Sally's brother, Chibo, from a deadly tapestry-weaving job seems like a good place to start. So when the Summer Queen invites Ji's "almost" friend, the orphaned noble Brace, to pursue a magical challenge to become the heir to the throne, Ji willingly faces goblins and death for the opportunity to accompany Brace to the city. Brace, alas, may not be the friend whom Ji hopes him to be nor the sufficiently developed character that readers require. The action progresses in fairly predictable ways but will nonetheless appease the voracious appetites of unblinking middle-grade readers. As with Ross' Fog Diver (2015), this band of misfits features appealing, memorable, and apparently racially diverse characters; one character's casual complication of gender and identity is particularly fresh and funny. Still, critical readers--and those who value nuance and fact--will be troubled by Ross' slapdash appropriation of cultures in what is otherwise original fantasy. It's perhaps an attempt to diversify the genre, but it falls short, inexplicably importing real cultural references (terra-cotta warriors, haciendas, kimchi buns, churros) into a fantasy world without context or rationale. Regrettably, misses the mark. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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April 1, 2017
Gr 4-7-Working as a boot boy is just as dirty and lowly as it sounds, and Ji dreams of a way to escape his life of servitude. However, his job is a cakewalk compared to that of his best friend Sally's little brother Chibo, who is a tapestry weaver, a terrible fate for a servant. Ji has been collecting precious metals and gems from the boots of the wealthy and replacing the valuables with fakes. He hopes that once he has saved up enough, he can somehow get to the city to sell the goods and buy Chibo's freedom and ensure his own. Ji sees an opportunity when the baroness's nephew, Brace, goes to the city to participate in the Diadem Rite, a chance to win the Summer Crown and rule the land. Ji, Sally, and the house governess Roz concoct a plan, but there are goblins, ogres, and evil grown-ups around every corner. Freeing Chibo soon becomes the least of their problems. While the plot at times feels like a recycled mishmash of several recent best sellers, it still moves at a breakneck pace and has enough creative elements to keep readers engaged. Ji and his gang are hard not to love, and the twist is one readers won't see coming. The ending is satisfying but leaves just enough room to make this the beginning of a new series. VERDICT A solid fantasy adventure with several laugh-out-loud moments; a worthwhile purchase for most middle grade collections.-Mandy Laferriere, Fowler Middle School, Frisco, TX

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