Wise and wonderful, this is the archetypal Hero’s Journey laced with gentle satire.
A hero’s tale set in an alternate world.
Living on a tiny island in an unnamed world that is an archipelago in space instead of an ocean, Gemma and her younger brother Martin have seen only two other people for the majority of their lives—their 120-year-old great-great-great aunt Peggy and her nearest neighbor. That is, until Peggy decides she has taught them everything she knows and it is time to take them to boarding school on City Island—a long and potentially dangerous journey. The three set out in Peggy’s sky-runner and encounter along the way various folks who just so happen to bear caricatural resemblances to modern-day types, whether it be the Toll Troll, the rabid, red- and blue-clad soccer fans, or the heartbreaking child soldier. Each encounter adds to the education of Gemma and Martin and possibly to that of readers as well. The adventure is narrated in turn by Peggy, Gemma and Martin, and each is pitch-perfect in its respective age and outlook. Never confusing or overbearing, the story mixes adventure with commentary—but so skillfully and humorously done that it rarely seems didactic. The cover, alas, does not do this book justice.
Wise and wonderful, this is the archetypal Hero’s Journey laced with gentle satire. (Adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62873-593-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
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
A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series.
An orphaned street urchin is recruited into an elite school for thieves.
In an alternate world where France is the dominant world power, 13-year-old Tom Morgan has had to scrimp, starve, and steal on the streets of London to survive. Born into a workhouse, he doesn’t know anything about his father, while his mother may have been from North Africa. One thing he does know is the sort of cruelty that awaits the poor who are sent to the workhouse, and he’s determined not to go back. But when their camp is raided and his friends are captured by workhouse agents, the only thing Tom can think of is how to get them out. Enter the Corsair, a cunning and mysterious man with a proposition: He wants to recruit Tom into Beaufort’s School for Deceptive Arts. From nabbing treasures to forging identity papers, Beaufort’s promises to teach Tom everything he needs to know to become a Shadow Thief and a member of the Shadow League, the secret global organization that helps keep the world’s political power in balance. But Beaufort’s has its own rules and secrets, and if Tom is to survive long enough to help his friends, he’ll need to figure them out quickly. Clever and gripping, this fast-paced boarding school story will appeal to fans of the Mysterious Benedict Society and Spy School series.
A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series. (Adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781665982283
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
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