Further antic adventures, with a bit of character development folded in.
Toothy, outsize mole rats from Pluto turn out to be just one challenge facing anxiety-prone Tim and his fourth-grade compatriots in their latest planet-saving exploit.
Hardly have Tim Sullivan, reckless buddy Tito Delgado, and genial time-traveling T. rex Oskar decided to team up as the Justice Three than they find their work cut out for them. A sudden town-wide rash of sinkholes leads, after several daffy twists, to a brisk round of literal Whack-A-(Were-)Mole and a climactic confrontation with a gigantic weremole queen. Meanwhile, Tim at last begins to get a better handle on controlling his worries—which is a particularly good thing because, as series fans will know, his superpower is making anxious what-ifs turn real. And though “always-snotty-and-rich-beyond-measure” nemesis William Woodrow Wiggle the Third is once more on hand to irritate our heroes, still, the Justice Three have become Justice Friends with the addition of Tim’s cool and unsurprisingly competent crush Zoe Charms. Line drawings featuring shark-mouthed rodents and pop-eyed kids (some, like Tito, who’s cued as Latine, with lightly tinted skin, but most paper white) crank up the comedy. Readers unfamiliar with the earlier installments can jump right in but will want to return to Tim Possible & the Time-Traveling Rex (2022) and Tim Possible & All That Buzz (2023).
Further antic adventures, with a bit of character development folded in. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781534492752
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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