Relentless action will either entertain or overwhelm readers.
History, steampunk, and fantasy abound in the third installment of the Section 13 series.
Readers new to it would fare best by starting with The Lost Property Office (2016) and The Fourth Ruby (2017). Protagonist Jack is reeling, with his father in a coma and himself on trial, accused by the villainous Undersecretary for Things Unknown at the Ministry of Secrets, Ignatius Gall. Gall claims Jack is in violation of Section Eight, “the mixing of tracker bloodlines,” and demands that he be “destroyed” and the Ministry of Trackers disbanded. While the trial is adjourned, Jack still struggles to control both his “sparks,” the memories he sees trapped in objects, and his new skill of conjuring fire. Accompanied by companion Gwen, he decides to seek the “zed,” an artifact that could possibly cure Jack’s father. Eventually their search leads them to China and the hope that they may thwart Gall’s quest for immortality. The packed plot has a quick pace, but that results in quick resolutions and a lack of suspense. Gwen is white, and there’s nothing made of white-presenting Jack’s iota of Mongolian heritage, revealed in the previous book. There is diversity in secondary characters, and the second half of the story takes place in China, and here the book falters culturally. Hannibal stretches Chinese history with Jack’s claim that the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, became a “raving lunatic,” and, regrettably, the most prominent Asian character, the biracial (Asian/white) Liu Fai, is a math champion.
Relentless action will either entertain or overwhelm readers. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6715-5
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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