An exciting adventure of mythical proportions centering real-life concerns.
As a descendant of Don Quixote, Lucia Castillo is ready to follow in the tradition of her ancestors and be a real knight.
Abuelo taught Lucia how to “be the champion of right and good, against justice and evil.” She trained alongside him since she was a little girl, abiding by her knight’s code and learning to help any damsel (or dude) in distress. He was her hero—despite most of the town, including her mother, believing he was fighting invisible monsters and dubbing him Abuelo Loco. After he passes, Mexican American Lucia continues his mission despite receiving judgment from everyone around her apart from her best friend, Sandro, and her trusty steed, Rocky the donkey. When she discovers Abuelo’s old helmet in an attic chest and realizes that it allows her to see mythical creatures, Lucia sets out with Sandro to uncover her town’s monstrous mayor’s evil plot and save the community before it’s too late—all while juggling Abuela’s and Sandro’s secrets. Will her hasty impulse to be helpful turn out to be her downfall? Over the course of Lucia’s journey, she grows in empathy and compassion with the help of her family and friends, learning the real meaning of doing good. The cartoonlike illustrations depict a vibrant world of colorful humans and spirits alike, emphasizing the characters’ facial expressions and highlighting the narrative’s action.
An exciting adventure of mythical proportions centering real-life concerns. (author’s note) (Graphic adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781250795526
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
File under “laugh riot.”
A rogue spell-check program’s bid to transform all life-forms into that eminently useful office item, the paper clip, touches off a fresh round of lunar lunacy.
Predicated on the entirely reasonable premise that eliminating all spelling and grammar errors everywhere would logically lead to the necessity of exterminating carbon-based life in the universe, this third series entry combines high stakes with daffy banter and daring exploits. CheckMate—a chipper, jumped-up editing program—has invented the Transmogratron, a giant laser that will fulfill its ultimate goals in both the cyber world and “meatspace.” Facing challenges as random as prankster lunar unicorns and a disarmingly motherly Motherboard, scowling First Cat joins a motley crew of diversely carbon- and silicon-based allies, led by the pearlescent Queen of the Moon. They’re in a race to the finish—diverted occasionally by, for instance, a relentlessly punny comic-book interlude featuring a pair of literal and figurative Pool Sharks. They ultimately triumph thanks to teamwork and moxie. Following a celebratory party and toasts to “new friends…and steadfast comrades” (and, of course, “MEOW”), the story’s energetic, brightly colored panels close with a reveal of the next volume. (“I always hate it when comics end by announcing a sequel. SO CRINGE!” declares an authorial stand-in.) It can’t come too soon.
File under “laugh riot.” (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063315280
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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