An uneven YA effort that struggles to deliver on its creative premise.
In Etzkorn’s (Sierra Quest, 2005) YA novel, a teenager discovers the entrance to a secret cavern near his home, which leads him to a dark, dangerous subterranean world inhabited by hostile, overgrown life-forms.
Gunther Cowley, an avid 15-year-old spelunker, has always dreamed of discovering his very own cavern behind his home near New Calar, New York. When his wish unexpectedly comes true, he enlists his younger sister, June, to journey with him into the cave. As they do so, their equipment suddenly fails them, and they must navigate the labyrinth of underground caverns unaided. In the dark depths, they encounter a group of Gunther’s classmates—kids who had mysteriously vanished from New Calar earlier that summer. It turns out that a group of teddy bear–like creatures called “tardigrades” have been keeping the children captive in order to perform mysterious experiments on them. Gunther must draw on his knowledge of caving to help free his friends from the tyrannical Tardies and protect them from a legion of overgrown insects. Meanwhile, Gunther’s mother, Dicey, calls on several quirky locals to help her track down June and Gunther. Etzkorn adds an engaging educational component to the story by including a glossary that introduces caving terms, such as “carabiner” and “speleothem.” The seemingly fantastical tardigrades are based on real-life microscopic organisms, so the story may also serve as a kind of biology refresher. However, aside from a few compelling moments, the novel often drags, hindered by obscure or outmoded references that are unlikely to resonate with younger readers. At one point, for example, the narrator compares teenage Gunther to the late dancer Rudolf Nureyev and at another, one of the Tardies is said to speak like “Jackie Vernon giving voice to Frosty the Snowman.” The parts from Dicey’s perspective, in particular, have a bizarre, almost mystical tone that feels out of step with the rest of the story. The book’s strongest section is its action-packed climax, but these final scenes don’t make up for serious weaknesses in style and characterization.
An uneven YA effort that struggles to deliver on its creative premise.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1614620099
Page Count: -
Publisher: Alien Skies
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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