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RUSH REVERE AND THE BRAVE PILGRIMS

Name: RUSH REVERE AND THE BRAVE PILGRIMS
Author: Rush Limbaugh
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5586-1

TIME-TRAVEL ADVENTURES WITH EXCEPTIONAL AMERICANS

From the Rush Revere series

by Rush Limbaugh ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29, 2013

Exceptionally bad.

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Supercool substitute teacher Rush Revere and his time-traveling horse, Liberty, take two students to 1620 to meet such exceptional Americans as William Bradford and Squanto.

In a series of jumps, the amiable Rush takes football player and closet nerd Tommy and pretty, soft-spoken, dark-skinned Freedom (possibly Native American) to such significant moments as the Mayflower’s embarkation from England, its landing at Plymouth and the first Thanksgiving. In their encounters, they learn about the Pilgrims’ quest for religious freedom, the difficult conditions they faced both onboard and in the New World, and how the fledgling colony’s relations with the local Native Americans were established. The presentation of history adheres to the standard narrative presented in classrooms for decades throughout the 20th century. Readers looking for Limbaugh’s politics won’t have to search hard. Tommy and Rush school Bradford in the values of competition and individualism, while Bradford and Squanto give thanks to God for seeing them through adversity. The storytelling that carries history, adventure and politics is breathtakingly inept. The rules governing both time travel and Liberty’s remarkable powers are both inconsistent and so arbitrarily convenient they feel as though they were made up as the author went along. Rush and the children’s interactions with historical figures are thoroughly wooden and elide the basic rules of the genre; Bradford never questions Rush’s late-18th-century getup, for instance, and is stupendously incurious about their monthslong absences. The prose never rises above amateurish and often reads as though written by the middle school students Rush teaches: “Tommy plopped down on a random desk….” Although the faux parchment pages catch the eye, illustration, design and even proofreading (Samoset is consistently misspelled “Somoset” in the text though not in captions or the author’s note) are as rudimentary and slipshod as the prose. The ever hungry Liberty provides needed, if lame, comic relief. A closing quiz leads readers to the website twoifbytea.com for answers.

Exceptionally bad. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4767-5586-1

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Threshold Editions/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: March 31, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- PERSPECTIVES
“Rush, Rush, Rushing to” the Abyss

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SECRETS OF THE PURPLE PEARL

From the Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science series , Vol. 2

by Kate McKinnon ; illustrated by Alfredo Cáceres ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 2025

Unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun.

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In a race against their enemies, the Porch girls must find a peculiar pearl in order to foil a fiendish plot.

After defeating a monstrous Kyrgalops in The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch find themselves (after a series of madcap events) at Lake Kagloopy’s Purple Pearl Hotel with their mentor, Millicent Quibb. Quibb informs the trio that they must find the titular pearl before the members of their evil mad-scientist rivals, the KRA, do. If they fail, the KRA (whose members include the malevolent mayor, Majestina DeWeen, and her slimy sycophantic lawyer, Ashley Cookie) plans to use the gem to bestow the Gift of Endless Vibrancy on the villainous Talon Sharktūth. Hilarity ensues as the Porches attend the annual Shrimp Ball, encounter Umbrella Turkeys, search for Cloudite (floating cloud rocks), and don invisible but smelly woolen coats. Jokes aside, the girls’ story is intriguing, offering more clues to their mysterious backgrounds and tantalizing tidbits promising later adventures. McKinnon offers bountiful backstory (alongside a running joke to encourage readers to pick up the preceding volume) and enough guffaw-inducing jokes, zany footnotes, and creative jargon to enthrall readers both new and old with her delightful sophomore effort. Mixing humor, found family, and well-wrought worldbuilding, this sequel is a certain crowd pleaser. Final art not seen; in the previous book, the grayscale illustrations showed the girls with varying skin tones.

Unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun. (appendices) (Adventure. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025

ISBN: 9780316555296

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MILLICENT QUIBB SCHOOL OF ETIQUETTE FOR YOUNG LADIES OF MAD SCIENCE
by Kate McKinnon ; illustrated by Alfredo Cáceres

- SEEN & HEARD
Sequel to ‘Millicent Quibb’ Coming in the Fall

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THE WILD ROBOT PROTECTS

From the Wild Robot series , Vol. 3

by Peter Brown ; illustrated by Peter Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2023

Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.

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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)