School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up–This sequel to Kin (Scholastic, 2008) answers many of the questions that were left hanging in that book. Most importantly, readers will learn what happens to Rue Silver’s plan to rescue her mother from the land of the faeries and about her grandfather’s plot against humanity, which involves transforming human sacrifices into living trees. There are several powerful scenes in which Rue’s friends are literally and figuratively seduced by faeries, with tragic consequences, but the most moving scenes involve Rue’s parents. When Rue tries to free her mother, she is faced with the painful revelation that the woman has no interest in rejoining the human world. And her father is torn between his allegiance to his wife and his emotional connection to his human lover. Readers will need to be familiar with the first book in the series in order to understand what’s going on, and there is a major cliff-hanger that should be resolved in the third volume. Unfortunately, even fans of Kin may have trouble following all of the plot points and keeping the characters straight. While Naifeh’s haunting and textured black-and-white illustrations are captivating, Kith does not live up to the promise of Kin.

–Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library