Continued reliance on formula makes this third outing too much like the first two.
Set in the 1930s, this third book of the Curiosity House series continues to follow four orphans who are performers and residents of Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders.
In the previous book, the orphans, Sam, Max, Thomas, and Pippa, only barely escaped capture by the mad scientist Nicholas Rattigan, who vanished after murdering Sam's parents. Under the protection of their new caretaker, Mr. Dumfrey, head of the museum, the children are rallying to move on from their grief when a mysterious string of robberies hits close to home. After someone poisons and kills all of Gen. Farnum's fleas from his world-famous flea circus, Farnum is arrested for murder. Knowing Farnum is incapable of such an act, and after the occurrence of a second murder while he's in jail, the orphans suspect that Rattigan may be lurking about yet again. These events lead the orphans to discover the tragic origins of their exceptional abilities, and they find themselves racing to uncover a deadly plot that could lead to the destruction of New York City. The plot is somewhat engaging in building suspense as the orphans attempt to unveil the hidden traitors, but the delivery of a dark reveal about the orphans is derailed by repetitive foreshadowing that establishes a predictable outcome. In the end, whimsy and a quick pace fail to compensate for the plot’s shortcomings.
Continued reliance on formula makes this third outing too much like the first two. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-227087-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.
Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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