Review by Booklist Review
Fresh clues about what happened to her vanished little brother send seventh-grader Nell Batista shuttling between two alternate versions of New York City, neither one quite ours--as readers will discover when, first, an after-school club the chronic truant is forced to join turns out to be a class in elementary magic, and then, after an attempted kidnapping, she finds herself immersed in Central Park's Bethesda Fountain, talking with the bronze angel. In fact, Potter so stocks her tale with exotic creatures, from tiny sprites to scary sewer monsters, that it's sometimes hard to tell Nell's familiar Hither from the (somewhat) more magical Nigh. But both prove excitingly dangerous places as Nell and allies who, like many of the people and locales in this delicious fantasy, aren't what they seem at first, or second, glance pass back and forth on the way to a climactic narrow escape from a ring of cruel magicians trafficking in children with fertile imaginations. The scary bits are leavened by sly humor and terrific flights of fancy. Some questions are answered by the end, but a general lack of resolution combined with an uncommonly appealing cast leave plenty of reasons to conjure up sequels.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Three years after Nell Batista's brother, River, vanished from Washington Square Park, skipping class to hustle chess players lands seventh grader Nell in the Last Chance Club, an after-school program. She's there alongside three eighth graders: beautiful bully Annika Rapp, once friend to River; cute new boy Tom Gunnerson, a rich kid in for stealing; and hulking Crud, who is rumored to be violent. Instead of doing community service, they're supposed to "perform miracles, help avert disasters, et cetera" by learning magic from mysterious Mr. Boot, who bears strangely detailed files on each child. As her magic skills develop and Nell glimpses River, she soon stumbles upon the Nigh--an alternate realm in which centuries' worth of children, kidnapped for their powerful imaginations, are trained by Magicians to build towering cities with their minds. Balancing the tweens' everyday social pressures with a dangerous quest across the fantastical 19th-century version of New York City that is the Nigh, Potter (the Big Foot and Little Foot series) satisfyingly blends contemporary snark with physical adventures heightened by spell-casting misfires, anxious close calls, and just-scary-enough monsters. Nell cues as Latinx; other characters default to white. Ages 8--12. Agent: Alice Tasman, Jean V. Naggar Literary. (Sept.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
After a spate of "criminal truancy" -- her way of coping with her brother's disappearance -- Nell Batista must do community service or risk being expelled from middle school. Along with three classmates, she is assigned to the Last Chance Club. When the club's advisor, Mr. Boot, hands out chopsticks and tells the students they're going to learn magic, it becomes clear that the Last Chance Club is not your typical volunteer gig. They will be angels, using their new magical skills to help people achieve their inner desires. When one lesson drops Nell into a parallel world (the "Nigh," where everything is just a little bit off from what she's used to in the "Hither" -- for instance, the Statue of Liberty holds a remote control instead of a torch), she and her classmates end up fighting evil and solving the mystery of her brother's disappearance. Potter has created an intriguing pair of worlds. What at first seems whimsical (there are plenty of Oifen-Shoifen spells and Notsen-Glotsen hexes) has pronouncedly dark undertones. The book explores questions of grief, exploitation, and responsibility through its occasionally convoluted plot. It's also a love letter to a particular experience of New York City, a la When You Reach Me (rev. 7/09); Nell's relationship with her local chess hustlers is a delight. (c) Copyright 2025. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Magic isn't just for the good students. Three years after seventh grader Nell's brother, River, disappeared from Washington Square Park in Manhattan, her class-cutting and gambling on chess games in the park land her in the Last Chance Club at school. It's a group designed for students who are close to being expelled and is populated by a motley crew. There's good-looking bully Annika, a former neighbor and friend of River's, who moved after her mother married a wealthy man. They're joined by Crud, a mountain of a kid rumored to be guilty of heinous acts, and Tom--or as Nell thinks of him, The Viking--a cute boy with fingers sticky from theft and his constant supply of Twizzlers. The mismatched foursome wouldn't normally associate, but when Mr. Boot, the club's leader, informs them that they will be learning magic as a way to become literal angels, they're forced to get along and work together. But the more they learn, the more Nell questions Mr. Boot's motives, especially as hints arise that River's disappearance may be linked to the magical world. The book tries to do a lot and largely succeeds. Readers hoping to become enmeshed in conspiracies with links to folklore, mythology, and literature will be in heaven and will readily forgive a few plot holes. Main characters read White. A thrilling page-turner. (Fantasy. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
