Implausible plotlines rely on flat characterization.
Puma shapeshifter Carag’s best friend faces guardianship issues that threaten her presence at the school in this fantasy set in Wyoming and translated from German.
Following the events of A Dangerous Friendship (2023), Carag is still dwelling on the nonspecific threats from the human-hating chief villain, Andrew Milling. Carag quickly (and too conveniently) learns that after his refusal to help Milling, the villain has found a new spy in the school. One-dimensional wolf bully Jeff starts making cryptic comments that undercut any mystery as to who the villain’s helper is this time. At one point, the book even acknowledges that a situation is a repeat from a previous installment. Meanwhile, in the ostensible main plot, the arrival of a mean human at the school—a man claiming he’s orphan Holly’s new guardian—throws the kids into turmoil, as he wants to pull Holly out of the boarding school. His motives, like those of most characters in the book, are never justified. With Principal Clearwater conveniently out of town, leaving nasty teacher Mr. Ellwood in charge, Holly feels vulnerable enough to run away and hide, with help from Carag and friends. (The bullying culture in the book also includes a played-for-laughs subplot about vandalizing a teacher’s art.) A final storyline—aside from Milling’s still-nebulous plots—involves a bank robbery that the kids decide to try to solve. The ending restores the status quo. Carls’ black-and-white spot art showing expressive, naturalistic animals are a highlight. Most characters are cued white; there is some racial diversity in the supporting cast.
Implausible plotlines rely on flat characterization. (Fantasy. 8-13)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9781646900220
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Arctis Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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