by Tom Angleberger illustrated by Tom Angleberger ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 23, 2011
Pitch-perfect middle-school milieu and enough Star Wars references (and laughs) to satisfy fans and win new ones.
Can tiny paper guru Origami Yoda save nerdy Dwight (from whose finger Yoda pontificates) from Principal Rabbski’s unfounded suspension (and worse)?
Last year, the sixth graders of McQuarrie Middle School compiled a case file to decide whether Origami Yoda was real or just Dwight wiggling his paper-clad finger and talking in a Yoda voice; he seemed to be the real deal and helped a lot of students out. Unfortunately, on the first day of seventh grade, ever-skeptical Harvey appears with an origami Darth Vader on his finger bent on dispensing the gospel of the Dark Side…well, actually he is still trying to get everyone to admit Origami Yoda’s a total scam. Is Darth Paper more powerful than Origami Yoda? When Jen asks Origami Yoda for advice about cheerleading tryouts and he says, “Zero Hour comes. Prepare to meet your doom!”, Principal Rabbski suspends Dwight for threatening behavior and recommends he be sent to CREF, the Correctional and Remedial Education Facility. Tommy plans to take this new case file, complete with negative comments from Harvey and illustrations from Kellen, to the school board to save his friend. Angleberger’s just-as-funny follow-up to The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (2010) delves deeper into the mystery of the helpful paper Yoda in a satisfying tale of friendship and just resistance to authority.
Pitch-perfect middle-school milieu and enough Star Wars references (and laughs) to satisfy fans and win new ones. (paper-folding instructions) (Graphic hybrid fiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0027-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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by Rick Riordan ; illustrated by John Rocco ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 19, 2014
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories.
Percy Jackson takes a break from adventuring to serve up the Greek gods like flapjacks at a church breakfast.
Percy is on form as he debriefs readers concerning Chaos, Gaea, Ouranos and Pontus, Dionysus, Ariadne and Persephone, all in his dude’s patter: “He’d forgotten how beautiful Gaea could be when she wasn’t all yelling up in his face.” Here they are, all 12 Olympians, plus many various offspring and associates: the gold standard of dysfunctional families, whom Percy plays like a lute, sometimes lyrically, sometimes with a more sardonic air. Percy’s gift, which is no great secret, is to breathe new life into the gods. Closest attention is paid to the Olympians, but Riordan has a sure touch when it comes to fitting much into a small space—as does Rocco’s artwork, which smokes and writhes on the page as if hit by lightning—so readers will also meet Makaria, “goddess of blessed peaceful deaths,” and the Theban Teiresias, who accidentally sees Athena bathing. She blinds him but also gives him the ability to understand the language of birds. The atmosphere crackles and then dissolves, again and again: “He could even send the Furies after living people if they committed a truly horrific crime—like killing a family member, desecrating a temple, or singing Journey songs on karaoke night.”
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories. (Mythology. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-8364-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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by Rick Riordan ; adapted by Ethan Young ; illustrated by Ethan Young ; color by George C. Williams
by Rick Riordan ; illustrated by John Rocco ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2015
Tales that “lay out your options for painful and interesting ways to die.” And to live.
In a similarly hefty companion to Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods (2014), the most voluble of Poseidon’s many sons dishes on a dozen more ancient relatives and fellow demigods.
Riordan averts his young yarn spinner’s eyes from the sex but not the stupidity, violence, malice, or bad choices that drive so many of the old tales. He leavens full, refreshingly tart accounts of the ups and downs of such higher-profile heroes as Theseus, Orpheus, Hercules, and Jason with the lesser-known but often equally awesome exploits of such butt-kicking ladies as Atalanta, Otrera (the first Amazon), and lion-wrestling Cyrene. In thought-provoking contrast, Psyche comes off as no less heroic, even though her story is less about general slaughter than the tough “Iron Housewives quests” Aphrodite forces her to undertake to rescue her beloved Eros. Furthermore, along with snarky chapter heads (“Phaethon Fails Driver’s Ed”), the contemporary labor includes references to Jay-Z, Apple Maps, god-to-god texting, and the like—not to mention the way the narrator makes fun of hard-to-pronounce names and points up such character flaws as ADHD (Theseus) and anger management issues (Hercules). The breezy treatment effectively blows off at least some of the dust obscuring the timeless themes in each hero’s career. In Rocco’s melodramatically murky illustrations, men and women alike display rippling thews and plenty of skin as they battle ravening monsters.
Tales that “lay out your options for painful and interesting ways to die.” And to live. (maps, index) (Mythology. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4231-8365-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
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