Valuable metafiction for young readers.
A venerated author interweaves an archaeological mystery—the 1952 discovery in Germany of an adolescent mummified in a peat bog two millennia ago—with the stories it inspired her to write.
The book opens by providing scientific and historical context from similar finds elsewhere and explaining how peat bogs preserve bodies and the way radiocarbon dating works. Lowry describes how she felt inspired to create a story for the Windeby Girl, whom she names Estrild, and whose tale follows, told in two linked stories. Estrild persuades Varick, a sickly boy, to teach her warrior skills forbidden to girls. When the druid priests next select the boys who will become warriors, Estrild’s determined she will stand with them. A middle section describes how recent scientific discoveries changed theories about the Windeby Girl, leading Lowry to write the second iteration centering Varick. In the final part of the book, Lowry explains how it felt to tell the stories of these young protagonists and why she was compelled to do so. While both stories feature vintage Lowry strengths—strong worldbuilding, compassionate characters—it’s the sections explaining her authorial decisions that stand out and will encourage readers to reflect upon how history is told and about whom. This book, her answer to probing questions, beautifully illustrates the interaction between idea and execution, illuminating the architecture of storytelling. Dramatic full-page art by Stroh as well as photographs add intrigue.
Valuable metafiction for young readers. (photo credits, bibliography, historical notes, discussion questions) (Fiction/nonfiction hybrid. 9-13)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-358-67250-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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
An environmental mystery featuring lots of clever detecting, a bit of danger, and real felonies to investigate.
Toxic waste dumped in the Everglades gives a quartet of middle school sleuths their first case.
Leading Carl Hiaasen fans over familiar ground, Ponti pitches 12-year-old Alex Sherlock and his 13-year-old sister, Zoe, with school friends Lina and Yadi as sidekicks, into a summer caper. It all begins with the hunt for a supposed fortune buried decades ago by Al Capone, culminates in a narrow escape from an exploding yacht, and ultimately exposes a smooth-talking bad actor shady enough to bring in even federal authorities. As the kids’ live-in Grandpa, a retired investigative reporter, delivers pointers on how to conduct interviews and sift evidence while grandly driving them around South Florida in his classic Cadillac, Roberta, the budding detectives display sharp wits, eyes, and negotiating skills. The last come in particularly useful when they’re dealing with their lawyer…who’s also their mom. Both the plot and the chain of evidence take logical courses, and since Dad is a marine biologist and Lina’s a recent transplant from Wyoming, Ponti is able to use their dialogue to highlight the local culture and larger ecological issues. Main characters present white, apart from tech wiz Yadi, who is cued Latine.
An environmental mystery featuring lots of clever detecting, a bit of danger, and real felonies to investigate. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781665932530
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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