DISPLAY: Matthew Kirby

Author Matthew Kirby will be visiting the Provo City Library on Wednesday, August 30, at 7:00 to talk about his latest books. Why not get ready for his visit by reading some of his great children’s fantasy/science fiction?

The Clockwork Three
By Matthew Kirby
Scholastic Press, 2010. Fiction. 391 p.
As mysterious circumstances bring Giuseppe, Frederick, and Hannah together, their lives soon interlock like the turning gears in a clock and they realize that each one holds a key to solving the others' mysteries.

Icefall
By Matthew Kirby
Scholastic, 2011. Fiction. 325 p.
Princess Solveig and her siblings are trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen fjord, along with her best friend and an army of restless soldiers, all awaiting news of the king's victory in battle, but as they wait for winter's end and the all-encompassing ice to break, acts of treachery make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst.

The Lost Kingdom
By Matthew Kirby
Scholastic, 2013. Fiction. 348 p.
On the eve of the French and Indian War, Billy Bartram and his naturalist father travel into the American wilderness in an airship--pursued by a party of French soldiers and haunted by a terrifying bear-wolf--on a quest to find the lost kingdom of the Welsh prince Madoc.

Spell Robbers
(The Quantum League #1)
By Matthew Kirby
Scholastic Press, 2014. Fiction. 263 p.
Ben Warner is invited to join a "science camp" led by a quantum physicist Dr. Madeleine Hughes, and with his new friend Peter he discovers the secret art of Actuation--the ability to change reality by imagining it differently--but he also finds that there are people willing to kill for that secret.

The Arctic Code
(The Dark Gravity Sequence #1)
HarperCollins, 2015. Fiction. 324 p.
The Earth is in the grip of a new Ice Age, and when twelve-year-old Eleanor's scientist mother disappears in the Arctic, Eleanor sets off on a dangerous journey to find her--and uncovers a mystery, a crime, and evidence that Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials.

Island of the Sun
(The Dark Gravity Sequence #2)
By Matthew Kirby HarperCollins, 2016. Fiction. 369 p.
Desperately searching for the other Concentrators that are fatally disrupting Earth's orbit, Eleanor and her companions are labeled as terrorists by G.E.T. forces that would eliminate all but a few select people.

Rogue World
(The Dark Gravity Sequence #3)
By Matthew Kirby
HarperCollins, 2017. Fiction. 400 p.
After the shattering new discoveries they made in Egypt, Eleanor and her friends unite in the desperate hope of saving the entire planet. They are preparing for a trek to the icy Himalayas, where they believe they’ll find the Master Concentrator and get a chance to end the threat of the rogue planet—one way or the other.

Comments

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...

Review: Finding Lost

Finding Lost By Holly Goldberg Sloan New York: Rocky Pond Books, 2025. Fiction. 208 pages. Middle schooler Cordy, along with her mom and little brother, Geno, are still learning how to adjust to their life after “The Accident,” a tragic boating accident that cost their father’s life. When Cordy is walking home from school one day, she finds a little stray dog who the family nicknames Lost, and as he joins their family, he helps them rediscover all of the beauty that life has to offer. Holly Goldberg Sloane delivers a heart-warming and poignant novel about loss, family, and perseverance. This was a well-written novel that could appeal to a wide range of readers. Any middle schooler will be able to relate to Cordy’s experience of dealing with change, and those who have experienced a similar loss will be sure to find solace in this beautiful story.

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