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Legacy and the Queen
By Andrea Beach,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Tennis and magic mix in solid fantasy series start.
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What's the Story?
LEGACY AND THE QUEEN is the story of 12-year-old Legacy, who lives in the provinces with her father where she helps him run an orphanage. Times are hard, and money is tight; there are many days when Legacy never stops feeling hungry, but she works hard to help provide for the little ones. But tennis is her real passion, and every morning she's up before dawn hitting shots against a stone wall for the sheer love of it. When she learns about a tennis tournament in the big city, she's determined to go, and to win. Because if she does win, she'll make enough money to keep the orphanage going for years. But not everyone at the palace's tennis academy, where Legacy wins a coveted training spot, is happy to see this outsider who poses such a big threat to the established players. To make it to the tournament final and win, Legacy will have to tame a fire-breathing, winged horse, unravel the mysteries and magic of stringing a tennis racket, and find out who keeps sabotaging her at every turn.
Is It Any Good?
This fantasy series created by Kobe Bryant is off to a pretty solid start as it intriguingly mixes fantasy, magic, dystopia, and tennis with a strong, determined heroine. Author Annie Matthew does very well at creating a world that's easy to picture in your mind while keeping the story of Legacy and the Queen moving right along. Big kids and tweens will admire Legacy's determination and relate to her struggles to understand and manage some strong emotions. More experienced readers will see some of the plot twists coming, or at least suspect what's likely to happen, but not so much that they won't enjoy immersing themselves in the magical story.
Not nearly as charming as Harry Potter, or nearly as intense as The Hunger Games, it still works as an interesting mash-up of a lot of elements from both. The open ending leaves room for more of everything, and fantasy fans will want to find out what happens next.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the role models in Legacy and the Queen. Why is it important to read about or watch different types of people, with different skin colors or from different backgrounds?
What are Legacy's character strengths and weaknesses? What do you like about her? Is there anything you don't like?
Why are fantasy books so popular? What do we love about them? How would Legacy's story be different if it took place in the real world?
Book Details
- Authors: Annie Matthew , Kobe Bryant
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Sports and Martial Arts , Friendship , Great Girl Role Models
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Granity Studios
- Publication date: September 3, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 14
- Number of pages: 208
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: September 23, 2019
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