An often entertaining and well-illustrated work that’s sure to excite young readers.
A middle-grade graphic novel featuring the future founders of the Roman Empire.
Kid Beowulf, a human, and his brother, Grendel, who looks like a green, monstrous creature, are enslaved by Spumae, who runs a fighting ring. Prince Tatius from Sabina purchases the pair to train as gladiators and promises their freedom if they fight well. The Sabines sacrifice a member of the Latin tribes every year at their annual games, but this year, three youngsters speak out against the practice: brothers Romulus and Remus, and their friend Tarpeia. To save the kids from punishment, the boys’ guardian, Faustalus, steps in to be sacrificed in their stead. Tarpeia helps Romulus and Remus sneak into the games, as they hope to take their revenge on the King of Sabina—but Kid Beowulf and Grendel challenge them, thinking that the boys are gladiator combatants. Remus is captured, Grendel is wounded, and both sets of brothers are separated. Romulus must come up with a plan to free his brother and carry out his mission. Meanwhile, Prince Tatius, worried about the future of his country and his people, starts to plot against his father, leading him to form uneasy alliances. In this fourth series entry, author/illustrator Fajardo offer an engaging story. It opens with a rhyming tale of the foundation of Rome, although the rest of the novel differs from the myth. (A few pages of historical explanation appear at the end.) A jump back in time makes the chronology a bit confusing, but once it catches up to Kid Beowulf and Grendel’s era, the pacing smooths out and the story unfolds in a satisfying fashion. Despite being the title characters, Beowulf and Grendel don’t feature very heavily, as Romulus, Remus, and Tarpeia steal the spotlight. Much of the book takes place in the gladiatorial arena, but the violence isn’t very graphic. The bright, colorful illustrations present easy-to-follow action scenes. Each character is distinctive, and even identical twins Romulus and Remus are easy to tell apart, due to differing hairstyles.
An often entertaining and well-illustrated work that’s sure to excite young readers. (Maps, Bibliography)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-99-095055-4
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Kid Beowulf Comics
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
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)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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