Labored but successful effort to echo the opener’s low-bar appeal.
Can underachiever Doug Underbelly save his school’s Springtime in Paris dance from a thorough sliming by giant slugs? Should he?
Reflecting with superfluous (nigh on monotonous) regularity that his life is weird, Doug not only finds himself still stuck being King of the Mole People (2019) who dwell beneath the spooky old house he shares with his single dad, but somehow put in charge of the dance committee along with drooly, burned-out teacher Miss Chips. The latter gig rapidly devolves into a slippery slope—both literally, after an army of subterranean Slug People in search of eggs stolen by a pretentious STEM-winding bully convert the school’s gymnasium to a “gym-nausium,” and figuratively, as Doug winds up at the end in a slow dance with “licorice-haired, ping-pong–eyed” sidekick Magda. Fortunately, Doug can enlist not only eager Mole People, but slime- (and ice cream–) eating Mushroom Folk to help with a rapid cleanup. Along with plenty of muck and ooey-gooey characters with monikers like “Hurrk” and “Burf” (“Your names all really do sound like bodily function sounds,” comments Doug with characteristic lack of forethought), Gilligan plugs in plenty of Wimpy Kid–style ink-and-fill drawings with punchlines and wordless reaction shots. The human figures are all paper white in the illustrations and, from clueless adults to cliquey students, typecast.
Labored but successful effort to echo the opener’s low-bar appeal. (Fantasy. 7-12)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-17136-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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
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
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