Gentle, inventive, and delightfully magical.
In this latest series installment, the magical bracelet finds its way to Lucy Usathorn.
Ten-year-old Lucy’s parents have been divorced since she was 3, and Lucy splits her time between her parents. She’s looking forward to her field trip to the Fort Worth Natural History Museum, where her dad works. But the day quickly turns sour. Strict Ms. Brock, the school librarian and her dad’s girlfriend, is chaperoning the trip, a classmate vomits on Lucy’s new sneakers, and Lucy’s pushiness alienates her best friend, Olive. Just when things can’t get any worse, Lucy’s father proposes to Ms. Brock, and Lucy runs off crying. At her mother’s house, Lucy discovers a strange package containing a bracelet. She connects via text with the bracelet’s previous owners (series fans will be familiar with their stories), who explain that this is no ordinary piece of jewelry but warn her to be careful what she wishes for. Lucy decides to use the bracelet to redo her terrible day...and prevent the proposal. Told in the form of a letter from Lucy to an unseen girl named Maya (the bracelet's next recipient), this is a lighthearted yet poignant tale. Once again, the fantastical premise is used to wonderful effect—as Lucy relives her day, she eventually learns a much-needed lesson. Lucy and her father are Thai, while Ms. Brock appears to be light-skinned in Vee’s artwork.
Gentle, inventive, and delightfully magical. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781338628319
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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