Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room)
Grade 8–10—The feisty protagonist fromFlora Segunda(Harcourt, 2007) returns in another fantasy adventure. It's three months after her 14th birthday, and Flora, now officially an adult, is wrestling with new challenges. She's determined to find someone who will help her expand her Gramatica vocabulary (and thus her ability to do magick); her best friend tries on a dead outlaw's fancy footwear with alarming results (the boots attach themselves to Udo's feet and he takes on Springheel Jack's evil persona); and, having discovered the source of the frequent earthquakes threatening Califa, she vows to take action before the entire city topples. Flora's world is highly imaginative, and the politics, teen angst, and family dysfunction are integrated neatly with the fantasy elements. The setting, which geographically resembles California, and the Spanish-language-influenced names and words set this book apart from similar titles. However, this ambitious sequel misses the mark. The plot will make little sense to those who have not read the first tale, and even fans ofFlora Segundamay find this installment occasionally hard to follow. Many scenes are so fast paced that they come across as superficial, and it often feels as though the author is trying to fit too much into the telling. Consider purchasingFlora's Dareonly where the first book is popular.—Genevieve Gallagher, Buford Middle School, Charlottesville, VACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.