Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit (Theo Tan #1)

Gr 4-7--Twelve-year-old Theo is crushed when his beloved older brother, Jamie, suddenly dies in a tragic accident. To make matters worse, the spirit companion summoned for him shortly afterward turns out to be Kai, the duplicitous, self-important fox spirit who was formerly Jamie's companion. Soon Theo discovers clues from Jamie suggesting something's not quite right at Reapling Corp, the company where Jamie was interning when he died (Reapling has monetized magical energy; think of them as the Google or Apple of spellcasting). To investigate, Theo will have to earn a spot in Reapling's competitive summer program by leaning in to his Chinese-American heritage and relying on some help and trickery from Kai. This action-packed fantasy should have wide appeal. Sutanto creates a sense of urgency from the first page, when Theo is dragged out of bed to a meat locker in Chinatown for a sketchy conversation with Jamie just before he dies. Alternating viewpoints between Theo and Kai fully flesh out the characters' overlapping (and sometimes deviating) desires. Moments of comic relief are scattered throughout, as when Theo's spells go awry due to his mispronunciation of Mandarin. And though Theo's story largely relies on Chinese gods and monsters, Sutanto deftly weaves in reminders that this is only one of a great many distinct cultures in Asia. VERDICT A welcome addition to fantasy shelves, hand this off to readers who can't get enough of "Percy Jackson" or the Rick Riordan Presents series.--Lindsay Loup

Twelve-year-old Theo Tan and his two-tailed shape-shifting fox spirit companion Kai must work together to solve the mystery of his brother's death in Sutanto's (The New Girl) Chinese-mythology-rich middle grade debut. In a futuristic San Francisco in which expensive cirth magic, which is bought and stockpiled in pendants, dominates daily life, Theo "hate that I'm a Chinese American kid who lives in Chinatown." He isn't like his hardworking, proudly Chinese American older brother Jamie, who's a cultural outreach intern at Reapling Corp., the U.S.'s largest cirth supplier. After Jamie dies in a car accident, Theo inherits his brother's acerbic spirit companion, Kai, with whom Theo's never gotten along. When they uncover Jamie's coded notebook, which implicates Reapling in his death, the pair reluctantly work together to solve the mystery by infiltrating the company via its prestigious cultural outreach summer program. In Theo and Kai's alternating perspectives, Sutanto weaves the duo's shared grief and path to healing with Theo's journey toward embracing his Chinese heritage in this rewarding fantasy adventure. Ages 8-12. Agent: Katelyn Detweiler, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (May)

"Kai, the wily fox spirit, is a star, all sass and blustery confidence covering up her shattered heart, bereft of her human companion. Her shapeshifting is a boon to their quest, and it carries them both as Theo slowly comes into his own as a smart, capable co-hero in their adventure." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB)