The Guardian Test by Christina Soontornvat

The Legends of Lotus Island series follows a child of destiny as she seeks to pass “The Guardian Test.”

The Guardian Test (Legends of Lotus Island #1) by Christina Soontornvat. Scholastic, 2023, 147 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10

Recommended for: ages 8-12

Child of Destiny?

Since her parents’ death at sea, Plum has been raised by her maternal grandparents on their bucolic backwater farm. It’s a peaceful life, if not an exciting one, where she can exercise her gifts of communicating with both animals and plants. It comes as a shock that her grandfather applied to the Guardian Academy on Lotus Island for her, and an even greater shock that she was accepted. Guardians are magical beings who protect life on the Santipap Islands, and Plum hasn’t a magical bone in her body—has she? Did her parents, particularly her mother, have qualities she never knew about?

Plum reluctantly agrees to give it a try. If she can’t pass the Guardian Test to transform into a predetermined mythical creature she’ll be back soon enough anyway. But the school on Lotus Island, the teachers, the friends and rivals, and the sheer potential of what she might be stir up an unsuspected desire to meet this mysterious destiny. Early trials and tests don’t look promising, but the headmaster of the Academy is not impressed by quick results: “You cannot be a Guardian—you cannot be anything—if you cannot just be.”

Sound familiar? Ordinary orphan with extraordinary gifts reluctantly answers the call of adventure, discovers allies and enemies along the way, capitalizes on previously unknown abilities and discovers a hidden destiny. This new series follows the pattern but in an engaging way that’s (so far) unburdened by heavy themes. Young middle-graders looking for independent reads will speed through quickly, then eagerly await the next volume. One small irritation for me is that the Masters of the Academy area all female; the males are adjutant “Brothers.” It’s as if male leadership has to be entirely shoved aside in order to make room for the women. As with all series, we can’t predict where the story or the ideology is going, but there’s something to be said for learning to “be” before being “special.”

Overall Rating: 3.75

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

Reviews: Christina Soontornvat has risen fast in the children’s book universe. See our reviews of Newberry-honored All Thirteen, A Wish in the Dark, and The Last Mapmaker.

Reflection: Harry Potter is the gold standard of the overlooked-protagonist fulfills-destiny template. See Betsy’s thoughts on kids reading the Harry Potter series.

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