An entertaining tale of family and trust set in a lively and fantastical era.
Villagers fight to survive the dangers and unpredictability of prehistoric times in Rasband’s middle-grade debut fantasy novel.
Eleven-year-old Torq Grka only barely lives through a violent jungle encounter with a Quetzalcoatlus—a “sky monster.” Luckily, his father, Kroc, tracks him down and helps him back to their village. After some time recovering, Torq reluctantly tells his family that he’s unable to move his legs or feet. The village healer can provide a treatment that will repair his injuries but needs one essential ingredient to do so: the green yolk of a Tyrannosaur egg. However, the medicine must be administered within 10 days for it to work. His brave little sister, Sheeny, rather than wait for the other villagers to make a decision, speeds off toward the Valley of the Swamps where the T. rexes roam. Kroc soon catches up with her, and father and daughter forage for eggs as quickly and cautiously as possible. Trouble, however, brews back at the village, due to nearby boiling pools and apparent earthquakes that may be early signs of an unavoidable natural disaster. Rasband fuels this short novel with a flurry of action scenes: Sheeny braves such difficulties as a heavy storm and a raging river, while other villagers seek safety as the ground vibrates and cracks beneath them. Although the story centers on the Grka family, Rasband takes time to effectively develop a few supporting characters, as well; for example, village chief Big Keobo can convince the council to okay the dinosaur egg hunt, but faces opposition from Darkis, Kroc’s childhood friend turned nemesis. The author also keeps younger readers in mind with concise, unadorned prose; the harshest expletive is the delightful “raptor crap,” which appears multiple times. There are appearances by uncommon, real-life prehistoric beasts, such as a Titanoboa. The book’s ending is memorable and hints at the possibility of a sequel.
An entertaining tale of family and trust set in a lively and fantastical era.Pub Date: Dec. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9798350925944
Page Count: 188
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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