Readers will be clamoring for the next volumes in this gripping, easy-to-read, high-interest series, which is a terrific...
The second in the Chronicles of Avantia, this tale continues the thrilling saga of Tanner and Gwen as they, along with their powerful beasts Firepos and Gulkien, try to save the Kingdom of Avantia from ruin.
Tanner and Gwen have recovered one piece of the Mask of Death from the evil Derthsin, the first step in their plan to thwart the fiend in his desire to collect all four pieces. If Derthsin can assemble the mask, he will wield dark power over all of Avantia, including its beasts. They are shocked to discover that Gwen’s twin brother Geffen has betrayed them, providing Derthsin with the first piece of the mask and the location of the second. Now, they must beat Derthsin to the second piece and rescue the treacherous but naive Geffen, who has become Derthsin’s prisoner. Along the way, they join up with a third chosen rider, an obnoxious and difficult young man called Castor, and his catlike beast Nera. As fast-paced as its predecessor, this volume is more compelling because the characters and their relationships begin to get a bit more complicated. Firepos, Tanner’s beast, again narrates part of the story in first person, creating a sense of immediacy as well as providing a glimpse into the perspective of the beasts, revealing them as full participants in the quest rather than mere transportation.
Readers will be clamoring for the next volumes in this gripping, easy-to-read, high-interest series, which is a terrific introduction to the genre. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-36158-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.
Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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