Review by Booklist Review
Juniper Lane and her reindeer, Skära, act as the Guardians of Cedar Wood, an area in England where Santa Claus once kept a low profile. When Santa left the area, he left behind more magic than he realized. Magic attracts magic, but not always the good kind, and this complicates life for Juniper. Not only is she supposed to keep her magic secret, but she must also protect her home from villainous witches and queens, as well as face obstacles in the form of wolves and a gigantic sloth. Despite being a follow-up to Juniper's Christmas (2024), this story can be enjoyed at any time of year, and new readers will not be confused if Firefox Moon is their entry into the Juniper Lane Adventures series. True fantasy lovers will understand specific references and easily keep up with characters' multiple names and titles. Colfer doesn't disappoint with this unique and whimsical adventure that brings together a wonderfully strange collection of characters.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Magic is erupting in Cedar Park, but Juniper is sure she can handle the dangers. She's mistaken. Following the events ofJuniper's Christmas (2023), Santa Claus has returned to his hidden workshop. But the London park where he hid out for years is still so loaded with magical Spangles ("units of polar magic") that the foxlike Durkas of legend may have appeared. Beneath a rare Blood Moon, Durkas will grant a wish, if seldom in a way the wisher might expect. Little suspecting that some of Durkas' powerful past victims are gathering for a second try, Juniper sails recklessly into pickles ranging from magical compulsions to pursuit by Poppet, a giant sloth that she initially takes to be a five-ton "battle hamster." Colfer is a gifted storyteller, but 13-year-old Juniper (who's biracial, with a white English mother and a deceased Black Ghanaian father) not only seems from the start to be thoroughly outclassed by her adversaries, but also spends much of the tale bespelled into helplessness. With timely aid from Santa, she does at last regain enough initiative to help save the world from a dire future. Readers may find the resolution to be on the anticlimactic side and may view most of the rest of the cast, including the scene-stealing Poppet, to be more active, nuanced characters than the protagonist. Terrifying and tongue-in-cheek in turn, if missing its predecessor's sparkle.(Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
