Fantastic, frenetic fun for comics and kitty fans.
A barrage of baddies comes for Cat Ninja.
Mild-mannered Claude the cat lives with Leon and Marcie Kwon and their mother; but when the city is threatened, Claude becomes Cat Ninja! (Only the kids know his secret.) Aided by former criminal mastermind Mr. Squeak (once known as Master Hamster), Cat Ninja fights the mind-controlling King Crab. Things get complicated with the hatching of Hoot, a superstrong owlet that Leon brought home from school as an egg (he thought it was a chicken egg). With Hoot’s help, Cat Ninja bests Electric Eel, Mecha Mechano, and Rhino Blasty, but the thing about this new wave of villains is that they only seem to be interested in attacking Cat Ninja. Apparently there is a bounty on his head. When Hoot’s father, Chronowl, arrives from the year 3021 they find out who is behind the attacks, their true target…and that all the world is at stake. This second collection of Cat Ninja digital comics (Nos. 6 through 10) is, if anything, more fun than the first. Bright, action-stuffed panels drawn by Thomas and colored by Wucinich don’t skimp on the visual gags. The Kwons are cued as Korean, and their community is diverse. Backmatter includes a sketchbook and superhero and supervillain name generators.
Fantastic, frenetic fun for comics and kitty fans. (Graphic fantasy. 7-14)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5248-6808-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
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
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
