Alien Spaceheadz approach their goal of recruiting 3.14 million + one Earthling SPHDZ…can they save Earth!?
Fifth grader Michael K. and his human friends Venus and TJ have done a whizbang job of helping advertisement-spewing, oddball aliens Bob, Jennifer and Major Fluffy (their leader and hamster) recruit. The SPHDZ counter falls only a bit short, so Bob and Jennifer decide to ask Santa Claus for the final SPHDZ needed to save the Earth from being turned off. Little do they know, the Santa they’re waiting in line to see is none other than Agent Umber of the Anti-Alien Agency! Michael K. & co. avert disaster, and the SPHDZ Counter hits its goal…then starts counting backwards! Evil Aliens are stealing the earthlings’ Brainwave (the sum of the collected SPHDZ) for their own nefarious ends! Feeling betrayed, Michael K. gives up. Meanwhile, Mom K. and Dad K.’s secret lives (ZIA Agent and Secret Ad man) are on a collision course. Can Spaceheadz with unlikely allies get Michael K. back on board and save the cosmos? Scieszka and Prigmore deliver the most madcap installment yet in their uber-illustrated series. Surprise villains (foreshadowed in previous volumes)! Surprise interstellar-parking-lot plans! Surprise doughnut upchuck! Nonfiction interludes on networks, group intelligence and symbiosis—not to mention the goofy websites—add to the fun.
Fans will be in heaven, especially at the certainty of further installments. (Humorous science fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4169-7955-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An effort as insubstantial as any spirit.
Eleven-year-old Maria Russo helps her charlatan mother hoodwink customers, but Maria has a spirited secret.
Maria’s mother, the psychic Madame Destine, cons widows out of their valuables with the assistance of their apartment building’s super, Mr. Fox. Madame Destine home-schools Maria, and because Destine is afraid of unwanted attention, she forbids Maria from talking to others. Maria is allowed to go to the library, where new librarian Ms. Madigan takes an interest in Maria that may cause her trouble. Meanwhile, Sebastian, Maria’s new upstairs neighbor, would like to be friends. All this interaction makes it hard for Maria to keep her secret: that she is visited by Edward, a spirit who tells her the actual secrets of Madame Destine’s clients via spirit writing. When Edward urges Maria to help Mrs. Fisher, Madame Destine’s most recent mark, Maria must overcome her shyness and her fear of her mother—helping Mrs. Fisher may be the key to the mysterious past Maria uncovers and a brighter future. Alas, picture-book–creator Ford’s middle-grade debut is a muddled, melodramatic mystery with something of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink feel: In addition to the premise, there’s a tragically dead father, a mysterious family tree, and the Beat poets. Sluggish pacing; stilted, unrealistic dialogue; cartoonishly stock characters; and unattractive, flat illustrations make this one to miss. Maria and Sebastian are both depicted with brown skin, hers lighter than his; the other principals appear to be white.
An effort as insubstantial as any spirit. (author’s note) (Paranormal mystery. 7-10)Pub Date: July 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-20567-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Good-hearted fun—great for fans of Kit Feeny and Babymouse.
It’s a Bigfeet family reunion!
Everyone’s favorite frosty, furry cryptid, the yeti, actually has a name: Blizz Richards. From his supersecret HQ in Nepal he keeps in touch with his fellow cryptids, all of whom have sworn an oath to keep themselves hidden. That’s not always easy, especially when there are cryptozoologists, like the nasty (but bumbling) George Vanquist, who are always trying to expose the secretive creatures. Vanquist got a picture of Blizz’s cousin Brian near his home in British Columbia, causing the mortified Brian to disappear entirely. When Blizz receives an invitation to a Bigfeet family reunion in Canada, he calls his buddies Alexander (one of Santa’s elves), Gunthar (a goblin) and Frank the Arctic fox to help him get ready. When they arrive in Canada, Brian is still nowhere to be seen. Can Blizz and his skunk ape and other sasquatch cousins find Brian, have the reunion and evade Vanquist? If anyone can, the Bigfeet clan can. Illustrator Sherry’s first volume in the Yeti Files is a fast and funny graphic-prose tale full of labeled pictures and comic-style panels. Those just starting chapter books may have some trouble with a few big words, but they’ll enjoy the big friendly monsters and immediately ask for the next tale—which looks to be about the Loch Ness monster.
Good-hearted fun—great for fans of Kit Feeny and Babymouse. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-55617-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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