Martin McMillan and the Secret of the Ruby Elephant

Name: Martin McMillan and the Secret of the Ruby Elephant
Author: Elaine Russell
ISBN: 978-1475149807

by Elaine Russell illustrated by Jackie Pope ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 3, 2012

A middle-grade adventure story with plenty of action and an engaging plot, which may appeal to fans of the Indiana Jones...

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Russell (Across the Mekong River, 2012, etc.) returns with her second middle-grade adventure story about the teen hero of Martin McMillan and the Lost Inca City (2005), who this time finds himself tracking down criminals in Thailand.

Martin McMillan’s father works at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, where he is about to open the “Treasures of Thailand” exhibition, featuring an enigmatic statue known as Ruby Elephant, which is rumored to hold the key to a long-lost hoard of treasure belonging to a 16th-century Thai prince. Martin and his friends get caught up in the disappearance of the elephant, and the trail leads them to Thailand, where—despite the misgivings of their parents—they vow to unravel the clues and find the missing treasure. Their adventure includes details of dynastic battles between Thai rulers and descriptions of ancient temples that are at times intrusive, breaking up the narrative flow, but the action is fast-paced as Martin and his friends plunge deeper and deeper into danger. In attempting to provide excitement, the story sometimes goes too far, such as when Martin, who has just turned 13, and his friend Isabel find themselves taken hostage by a dangerous gang, gagged and bound, only to escape in an abandoned car, despite having next to no driving experience. The book also offers an inconsistent characterization of Junya, a Thai girl with a less than perfect command of English, who at one point relates the complicated history of King Naresuan’s nephew Prince Luang without stumbling and at other moments has difficulty finding simple words. The text has occasional typos, such as spelling a character’s name “Sofia” and “Sophia” on the same page, but the story is engaging and peppered with surprises, and the background of Thailand is well-drawn.

A middle-grade adventure story with plenty of action and an engaging plot, which may appeal to fans of the Indiana Jones movies.

Pub Date: July 3, 2012

ISBN: 978-1475149807

Page Count: 216

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Jan. 23, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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TALES FOR VERY PICKY EATERS

by Josh Schneider & illustrated by Josh Schneider ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2011

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Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)

Pub Date: May 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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ABIYOYO RETURNS

by Pete Seeger & Paul Dubois Jacobs & illustrated by Michael Hays ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2001

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The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)