Clay is Everykid enough (“almost handsome, in a dried-snot-on-his-sleeve sort of way”) to keep readers hanging around to see...
Very little is as it seems at a survival camp for “troubled” teens in this trilogy opener.
Still deeply upset nearly two years after the disappearance of his stage-magician older brother, Clay writes “Magic sucks!” in a notebook after turning in a blank paper on Shakespeare’s Tempest. He’s astounded to find the sentiment painted on a wall at school the next day—with his signature. The resultant fallout lands him on a remote Pacific island, where he encounters peers named Leira (spell it backward) and Mira, a grotesque puppet dubbed “Caliban” and a llama with a sign on its neck reading “Hola. Cómo se llama? Yo me llamo Como C. Llama.” He also discovers not one but two libraries of rare books—one stocked with oddly behaving grimoires. After climbing a live volcano and sliding back down on a board, he discovers (as he had been suspecting for some time) that it’s all been a setup—further developments to come. “Bosch,” a confirmed Lemony Snicket bandwagoneer, repeatedly interrupts with authorial rants, pleas and footnotes. The Shakespearean parallels aren’t particularly integral to the plot, and the twists, Como’s sign apart, are more inscrutable than clever. The book comes complete with multiple appendices and Ford’s illustrations (not seen for review).
Clay is Everykid enough (“almost handsome, in a dried-snot-on-his-sleeve sort of way”) to keep readers hanging around to see what happens to him next. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-316-32038-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wyatt (The Science Book for Girls, 1997, etc.) adopts an alien’s-eye-view of earthlings, comparing the human body with that of a friendly lifeform from outer space. A cartoon anatomical outline charts the alien Danoid’s first encounter with Pete. Danoid labels hands as primary manipulatives, feet as planet connectors, and knees, multidirectional movement facilitators. Earthling skin, hair, brains, bones, muscles, and organs are measured by these compare-and-contrast standards, delivering information along the way. Sifting through a flurry of text, readers will stumble upon headings marked “Science Fair Ideas,” consisting of simple, at-home experiments such as tracking one’s pulse with a dab of modeling clay or smelling foods that have strong odors. While the concept is attention-getting, and often humorous, the actual information is often overwhelmed by distracting asides, experiments, and reports filed to Danoid’s commander; this compendium may be more worthwhile for browsers than researchers. (diagrams, index) (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-55074-511-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Opening episodes of a comic-book series created by an American teacher in Japan take a leap into chapter-book format, with only partial success. Resembling—in occasional illustrations—a button-eyed, juvenile Olive Oyl, Akiko, 10, is persuaded by a pair of aliens named Bip and Bop to climb out her high-rise bedroom’s window for a trip to M&M-shaped Planet Smoo, where Prince Fropstoppit has been kidnapped by widely feared villainness Alia Rellaport. Along with an assortment of contentious sidekicks, including brainy Mr. Beeba, Akiko battles Sky Pirates and video-game-style monsters in prolonged scenes of cartoony violence, displaying resilience, courage, and leadership ability, but not getting very far in her rescue attempt; in fact, the story cuts off so abruptly, with so little of the quest completed, and at a lull in the action to boot, that readers expecting a self-contained (forget complete) story are likely to feel cheated. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2000
ISBN: 0-385-32724-2
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
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