Kingdom of Kevin Malone - Hardcover

Charnas, Suzy McKee

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152007563 ISBN 13: 9780152007560

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1993

Synopsis

While mourning the death of her cousin, Amy goes roller-skating in New York's Central Park and bumps into a former nemesis, Kevin, who leads her into the fantasy world that he created to escape his abusive father.

About this title

About the Author:

Suzy McKee Charnas is the author of over a dozen works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, including the Holdfast series from Tor Books and the Sorcery Hall series of books for young adults. She is the winner of the Hugo Award (for her short story "Boobs") and has won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award twice. 

From School Library Journal:

Grade 6-9-Chasing Kevin, a bully from her old neighborhood, teenaged Amy skates under an archway in Central Park and finds herself in the Fayre Farre, a fantasy land that the boy has created to escape his ugly "real" life. There, he is no longer Rotten Kevin, but Kavian Prince, the Promised Champion, destined by prophecy to free his people from the evil sorceror Anglower. Charnas plays the Fayre Farre as both real and metaphorical. Anglower, when he appears for the Final Battle, is the phantom of Kevin's abusive father; after a brisk fight, he is ultimately defeated in a tangle of thorny roses. Several subplots, including Amy's struggle to cope with a favorite relative's sudden death, and frequent shifts of mood or scene, give the story a crowded feel, but the author's sly digs at the heroic fantasy genre are on the mark, and Kevin makes an unusual hero. He's whiny, sullen, and self-centered, but also a tragic figure with a nascent sense of responsibility-he elects to stay in his newly liberated kingdom, and is last seen worrying about the ethnic strife developing between the elves and the semihuman Branglemen. Readers can sift through the whimsy for serious themes, or not, as they choose.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0152007563
• ISBN 13: 9780152007560
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 211