Bravely

Two gods--Feradach, a deity of stagnation, and the Cailleach, a goddess of creation---argue over how to keep the balance between destruction and new life as Princess Merida of DunBroch, headstrong and now 20, somewhat accidentally steps in. The gods give her one year to prove her family can change for the better instead of leaving things ignored, unfinished, and unresolved. To do so, Merida visits three different kingdoms to learn their ways of life. Each kingdom is different, wholly unlike the DunBroch she loves, and Merida begins to wonder if she might enjoy the bargain she's made. As changes begin to take hold, Merida shows her strength, courage, and cunning, and she may just be able to save her home and her family through sheer determination. Tackling a character many modern teens will remember first from childhood (the 2012 Pixar movie Brave) is no mean feat, but Stiefvater's clear dedication to Scottish history and myth give this stand-alone everything it needs to succeed. Expect fans of Stiefvater's Raven Cycle and of reimagined Disney to devour this.

Disney adaptations are familiar, but this title marks a new gambit: a novel sequel that accepts the source movie, Brave, as canon. Merida, now nearly 20, has negotiated a truce with her mother (they never talk about betrothals or marriage) and traveled the kingdom learning new things. But little has changed otherwise: The triplets are still a force of chaos, Merida prefers archery to embroidery, the kingdom is at peace, and magic is at rest. That is, until Feradach, the god who brings ruin in order to make room for growth, threatens to destroy everything Merida loves unless she can change her family enough to end their stagnation. This is still clearly a fairy-tale world, but Stiefvater's understanding of medieval history (briefly detailed in the author's note) grounds it, as does the very believable nature of Merida's conflict: Saving what she loves means transforming it beyond what she knows. The episodic structure as Merida takes on three journeys, each with different family members, moves more slowly than the movie, but the depth of characterization--as shown in Feradach and Queen Elinor in particular--is nuanced and noteworthy. Readers who spent their childhoods watching Merida engage with magic will readily fall under her spell again as she negotiates the hardest challenge of all: growing up. All characters are assumed White. A different kind of fairy tale, for older and wiser readers. (Historical fantasy. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.