Myers really raids the thematic cupboard for this semi-serious tale of an eighth-grader who becomes convinced that his widowed dad and little sister have fallen under the spell of a beautiful witch. Stewart aspires to be popular at school, even at the price of severing ties with long-time friends Ham and Rachel. He also doesn’t want his father to remarry—not comfortable librarian Martha, and especially not the (could it be literally?) bewitching new art teacher Wanda Gibbs, just arrived in town with her decidedly strange young son Ozgood. Is she, or isn’t she? What with Stewart suddenly acquiring almost supernatural basketball skills and also hooking up with a hot classmate right after Mrs. Gibbs gives him a bottle of homemade cologne, with Stu’s normally mulish sister Georgia suddenly eager to please whenever she’s in the room and with Ozgood repeatedly seeming to transform into a large frog, the deck is carefully stacked to keep the issue in doubt. The plot thickens with the revelation that Martha and Wanda are actually old friends, and sets nicely at the end with a small twist, a wedding and some needed mending of fences. Leaving it to readers to make up their own minds about Mrs. Gibbs, the author offers a coming-of-age tale rich in Disney Channel potential. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-8027-8977-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2007
Ultimately more than a little full of itself, but well-stocked with big themes, inventively spun fairy-tale tropes, and...
Good has won every fairy-tale contest with Evil for centuries, but a dark sorcerer’s scheme to turn the tables comes to fruition in this ponderous closer.
Broadening conflict swirls around frenemies Agatha and Sophie as the latter joins rejuvenated School Master Rafal, who has dispatched an army of villains from Capt. Hook to various evil stepmothers to take stabs (literally) at changing the ends of their stories. Meanwhile, amid a general slaughter of dwarves and billy goats, Agatha and her rigid but educable true love, Tedros, flee for protection to the League of Thirteen. This turns out to be a company of geriatric versions of characters, from Hansel and Gretel (in wheelchairs) to fat and shrewish Cinderella, led by an enigmatic Merlin. As the tale moves slowly toward climactic battles and choices, Chainani further lightens the load by stuffing it with memes ranging from a magic ring that must be destroyed and a “maleficent” gown for Sophie to this oddly familiar line: “Of all the tales in all the kingdoms in all the Woods, you had to walk into mine.” Rafal’s plan turns out to be an attempt to prove that love can be twisted into an instrument of Evil. Though the proposition eventually founders on the twin rocks of true friendship and family ties, talk of “balance” in the aftermath at least promises to give Evil a fighting chance in future fairy tales. Bruno’s polished vignettes at each chapter’s head and elsewhere add sophisticated visual notes.
Ultimately more than a little full of itself, but well-stocked with big themes, inventively spun fairy-tale tropes, and flashes of hilarity. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: July 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-210495-3
Page Count: 672
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The poster boy for relentless mischief-makers everywhere, first encountered in No, David! (1998), gives his weary mother a rest by going to school. Naturally, he’s tardy, and that’s but the first in a long string of offenses—“Sit down, David! Keep your hands to yourself! PAY ATTENTION!”—that culminates in an afterschool stint. Children will, of course, recognize every line of the text and every one of David’s moves, and although he doesn’t exhibit the larger- than-life quality that made him a tall-tale anti-hero in his first appearance, his round-headed, gap-toothed enthusiasm is still endearing. For all his disruptive behavior, he shows not a trace of malice, and it’ll be easy for readers to want to encourage his further exploits. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-48087-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
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