Jess Black (text), Celeste Hulme (illustrator), Eve and the Rebel Fairies (Keeper of the Crystals #7), New Frontier Publishing, August 2018, $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781925594218.
Eve and the Rebel Fairies is the seventh book and the penultimate adventure in the Keeper of the Crystals series from Jess Black. I’m reading this as a standalone, without having read the first six books. The opening works quickly to introduce the reader to Eve and Oscar, so you can read this series in any order.
Friends Eve and Oscar find a secret door and like most secret doors, it leads to an unexpected adventure, along with Eve’s loveable and mischievous dragon, Ingvar. At first, I was surprised that Eve could have forgotten that she had a fairy door in her bedroom, but in a fast-paced adventure in which the two friends are caught up in saving The Tree of Life, Earth and Fairyland from rebellious fairies it’s easy to imagine being quite distracted!
Eve’s gift as a crystal keeper throughout the series gives her the opportunity to cross into the fairy realm and interact with magical creatures. In this story, The Tree of Life has an energy source called pixie dust. Two rebellious fairies are exploiting pixie dust to wreak havoc on earth in a misguided effort to teach humans a lesson about their abuse of the environment. Eve has a bold edge to her character, taking thoughtful and considered action to try to intervene. The final straw is when the Rebel fairies enter the human world and start melting glaciers to make their point. Eve must act quickly!
Eve’s interaction with her dragon, trolls, various fairies alongside her friend Oscar will appeal to young emerging independent readers who love animals and fantastic creatures.
Aimed at seven years and older, there are one or two instances of dialogue between Eve and Oscar where Oscar shares his perspective about boys not being into fairies. Although girls may be the majority of readers attracted to fairy stories, in this age group you may be reading this with an audience that include boys. As there are young boys who love fairies and fairy stories, depending on the age of the children, it might be relevant to paraphrase, or pause and use this a discussion point.
Sweet and subtle pencil line drawings from Celeste Hulme lead the reader into each chapter. The large text means this series is perfect for young readers transitioning to novels. There is scope for exploring some big themes including stewardship of the planet, activism, negotiation and pollution.
The final book in the Keeper of the Crystals series, Eve and the Kraken Hunt, has just been released. Jess Black’s writing strongly features animals and her current series The Tales of Mr Walker has recently been longlisted for the 2019 Indie Book award.
Reviewed by Angela Brown
