This birthday-anxiety story is made fresh by both the twins’ dynamics and the riddles.
The Quirk twins, about to turn 10, disagree about how to celebrate against a backdrop of magical mishaps.
This year, Grandpa Quill’s Quirkalicious Birthday Hunt will be the toughest yet. (Rules are helpfully spelled out: In the week leading to their birthday, there are five clues; four lead to small gifts and the last to the big one.) Facing a greater-than-expected challenge, Penelope and Molly disagree on how to proceed and who should call the shots. Additionally, for the first time ever, they are having a birthday party with friends. Molly wants her first birthday party to be perfect—and perfectly normal; Penelope’s anxious about being the center of attention and keeping her splashy magic power (her thoughts manifest in reality) under wraps. This conflict of desires is heightened as Pen concludes that Molly’s bossy, and Molly resents the sacrifices she makes to help Penelope control her magic. Additionally, the scavenger hunt’s riddles challenge the girls, but nothing puzzles them more than the seemingly random small gifts. Will the twins reconcile their differences, prevent their birthday party from becoming a disaster and find their big gift? Of course, but the emotional roots of the disagreement will ring true for readers with siblings or close friends, grounding the story with a touch of reality amid the silly magic.
This birthday-anxiety story is made fresh by both the twins’ dynamics and the riddles. (illustrations not seen) (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61963-370-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
File under “laugh riot.”
A rogue spell-check program’s bid to transform all life-forms into that eminently useful office item, the paper clip, touches off a fresh round of lunar lunacy.
Predicated on the entirely reasonable premise that eliminating all spelling and grammar errors everywhere would logically lead to the necessity of exterminating carbon-based life in the universe, this third series entry combines high stakes with daffy banter and daring exploits. CheckMate—a chipper, jumped-up editing program—has invented the Transmogratron, a giant laser that will fulfill its ultimate goals in both the cyber world and “meatspace.” Facing challenges as random as prankster lunar unicorns and a disarmingly motherly Motherboard, scowling First Cat joins a motley crew of diversely carbon- and silicon-based allies, led by the pearlescent Queen of the Moon. They’re in a race to the finish—diverted occasionally by, for instance, a relentlessly punny comic-book interlude featuring a pair of literal and figurative Pool Sharks. They ultimately triumph thanks to teamwork and moxie. Following a celebratory party and toasts to “new friends…and steadfast comrades” (and, of course, “MEOW”), the story’s energetic, brightly colored panels close with a reveal of the next volume. (“I always hate it when comics end by announcing a sequel. SO CRINGE!” declares an authorial stand-in.) It can’t come too soon.
File under “laugh riot.” (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063315280
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fine emotional stretch within reach of the intended audience.
When siblings Jessie and Evan (The Lemonade War, 2007, and The Lemonade Crime, 2011) accompany their mother on the time-honored midwinter holiday visit to their grandmother’s home in the mountains, the changes are alarming.
Fire damage to the house and Grandma’s inability to recognize Evan are as disquieting as the disappearance of the iron bell, hung long ago by their grandmother on Lowell Hill and traditionally rung at the New Year. Davies keeps a tight focus on the children: Points of view switch between Evan, with his empathetic and emotional approach to understanding his world, and Jessie, for whom routine is essential and change a puzzle to be worked out. When Grandma ventures out into the snow just before twilight, it is Evan who realizes the danger and manages to find a way to rescue her. Jessie, determined to solve the mystery of the missing bell, enlists the help of Grandma's young neighbor Maxwell, with his unusual habitual gestures and his surprising ability to solve jigsaw puzzles. She is unprepared, however, for the terror of seeing the neighbor boys preparing a mechanical torture device to tear a live frog to pieces. Each of the siblings brings a personal resilience and heroism to the resolution.
A fine emotional stretch within reach of the intended audience. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-56737-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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