Summary and Reviews of Lionboy by Zizou Corder

Media Reviews

The Washington Post Book World For Young Readers - Elizabeth Ward Lionboy is a zinger or a story, told with a J.K. Rowling-like blend of humor, drama and headlong plotting – overplotting, sometimes – though worlds removed from Hogwarts..... a delicious midwinter promise of adventures to come.

KLIATT - Paula Rohrlick The saga is imaginative and engaging, and the elaborate details of the circus will appeal to upper elementary and middle school students. Ages 12 to 15.

School Library Journal - Steven Engelfried Grade 4-8. Charlie himself is brave and smart, regularly applying his parents' wise advice when in a tough spot, but he never comes alive as a truly distinct or particularly interesting hero.....Still, it's a fascinating premise, and sets up some surprising and exciting situations.... Despite weaknesses, there's some inventive storytelling here, and readers who stick with it will look forward to the sequel.

VOYA - David Goodale Despite flaws in characterization, this novel will also be a hit with lovers of Eoin Colfer and Philip Pullman. This series is recommended for school and public libraries, where patrons will also want to keep an eye out for the movie. Ages 11 to 15.

Kirkus Reviews This inventive cat-and-mouse game combines hi-jinks with messages of mixed marriages, greedy pharmaceutical conglomerates, and environmentally caused allergies. The lion-face cover and clever cat device set the pace and impel the plot. Intriguing. (Fiction. 9-12)

Booklist - Jennifer Mattson ... a 22-page description of a circus performance may test children's attention spans, and Charlie's levelheaded strategizing sometimes strains credibility. Still, such flaws will hardly matter once readers are caught up in the suspenseful action and the pleasures of visiting a plausible, if troubling, version of our future.

Publishers Weekly This first volume (by a mother-daughter team writing under one name) in a planned trilogy melds a rousing traveling circus adventure with shades of cautionary science fiction.