A vigorous celebration of outdoor, imaginative play.
In this lighthearted sequel to Recess Warriors: Hero Is a Four-Letter Word (2017), recess drama continues.
After fighting an outbreak of zombie-inducing cooties on the playground of Armstrong School, fifth-grade superheroes Scrap (aka Bryce) and reformed villain Swan (the alter ego of Juliet) learn that insidious forces are seeking to take over their beloved playground. A group of renegade vampires led by vegan, pretend-smartphone–wielding Cora is threatening to infect the play yards. After this adventure, Scrap and Swan discover a bevy of backpack-pilfering ninjas led by Simon, who has the power to compel people to do what he wants (à la “Simon Says”). Soon after, the antics once again transform, and the superhero duo must finally deal with their most nefarious foe: a scheming fourth-grader determined to rule the entire playground. Emulating the amorphous flow of unstructured play, the narrative moves fluidly among storylines as the children’s play scenarios and characters change with their whims. Mentions of technology are nearly entirely absent, as are aspects of anything academic: pretend play and the simple joys of being outside are given prominence. Emerson’s art is dynamic and appealing, with a keen balance between facial expression and movement. The children are a diverse bunch, a variety of skin tones and racial characteristics on display in the full-color pictures.
A vigorous celebration of outdoor, imaginative play. (Graphic fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62672-709-0
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Thought-provoking and charming.
A sophisticated robot—with the capacity to use senses of sight, hearing, and smell—is washed to shore on an island, the only robot survivor of a cargo of 500.
When otters play with her protective packaging, the robot is accidently activated. Roz, though without emotions, is intelligent and versatile. She can observe and learn in service of both her survival and her principle function: to help. Brown links these basic functions to the kind of evolution Roz undergoes as she figures out how to stay dry and intact in her wild environment—not easy, with pine cones and poop dropping from above, stormy weather, and a family of cranky bears. She learns to understand and eventually speak the language of the wild creatures (each species with its different “accent”). An accident leaves her the sole protector of a baby goose, and Roz must ask other creatures for help to shelter and feed the gosling. Roz’s growing connection with her environment is sweetly funny, reminiscent of Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. At every moment Roz’s actions seem plausible and logical yet surprisingly full of something like feeling. Robot hunters with guns figure into the climax of the story as the outside world intrudes. While the end to Roz’s benign and wild life is startling and violent, Brown leaves Roz and her companions—and readers—with hope.
Thought-provoking and charming. (Science fiction/fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low.
Recasting Dog Man and his feline ward, Li’l Petey, as costumed superheroes, Pilkey looks East of Eden in this follow-up to Tale of Two Kitties (2017).
The Steinbeck novel’s Cain/Abel motif gets some play here, as Petey, “world’s evilest cat” and cloned Li’l Petey’s original, tries assiduously to tempt his angelic counterpart over to the dark side only to be met, ultimately at least, by Li’l Petey’s “Thou mayest.” (There are also occasional direct quotes from the novel.) But inner struggles between good and evil assume distinctly subordinate roles to riotous outer ones, as Petey repurposes robots built for a movie about the exploits of Dog Man—“the thinking man’s Rin Tin Tin”—while leading a general rush to the studio’s costume department for appropriate good guy/bad guy outfits in preparation for the climactic battle. During said battle and along the way Pilkey tucks in multiple Flip-O-Rama inserts as well as general gags. He lists no fewer than nine ways to ask “who cut the cheese?” and includes both punny chapter titles (“The Bark Knight Rises”) and nods to Hamiltonand Mary Poppins. The cartoon art, neatly and brightly colored by Garibaldi, is both as easy to read as the snappy dialogue and properly endowed with outsized sound effects, figures displaying a range of skin colors, and glimpses of underwear (even on robots).
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low. (drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-93518-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
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