Entirely skippable.
A good kid trains to become a villain.
Twelve-year-old white kid Victor Spoil comes from a long, long line of famous supervillains. His mother and father are known around the world as the Spoil Sports, and they’ve been hoping and praying that Victor will follow in their footsteps. But Victor has a problem. Victor is, unfortunately, a good person. Victor can’t stand messes, doesn’t roughhouse, and is polite to everyone he meets. At their wits’ end, his parents call in the disgraced white supervillain the Smear to train Victor. Victor and the Smear go on the road, battling heroes in scripted fights and learning from each other along the way. The novel is harmless enough, but those thirsty for superhero action will be disappointed. With the costumes and arranged battles, these superheroes are nothing more than big-time wrestlers. The plotting is episodic, and the characterization is quite poor—everyone seems to speak in the same bland, “too cool for school” style that seems to be becoming the norm in the James Patterson Presents middle-grade books. The humor, meanwhile, is barely middle-grade, leaning heavily on underwear jokes. When all is said and done, the novel barely registers. Readers may even forget about this one as they’re reading it.
Entirely skippable. (Adventure. 7-10)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-31869-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after.
Drake has been selected by the king to serve as a Dragon Master, quite a change for an 8-year-old farmer boy.
The dragons are a secret, and the reason King Roland has them is a mystery, but what is clear is that the Dragon Stone has identified Drake as one of the rare few children who have a special connection with dragons and the ability to serve as a trainer. Drake’s dragon is a long brown creature with, at first, no particular talents that Drake can identify. He calls the dragon Worm. It isn’t long before Drake begins to realize he has a very strong connection with Worm and can share what seem to be his dragon’s thoughts. After one of the other Dragon Masters decides to illicitly take the dragons outside, disaster strikes. The cave they are passing through collapses, blocking the passageway, and then Worm’s special talent becomes evident. The first of a new series of early chapter books, this entry is sure to attract fans. Brief chapters, large print, lots of action, attractive illustrations in every spread, including a maplike panorama, an enviable protagonist—who wouldn’t want to be a Dragon Master?—all combine to make an entertaining read.
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-64624-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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