An easily avoided waste of time.
Why does time fly when you’re having fun? Time thieves!
San Francisco seventh-grader Taj Carter is an expert time waster and an excellent planner of fun times. He and his friends have an epic summer planned—but when he wakes up on what should be the first day of summer, it’s the first day of school! Everyone is acting strangely…and then gym class freezes, and a bus plows through the gymnasium wall. Eon, a burly Time Tracer in a gray business suit, tells Taj that summer fun times were stolen and the only way to get them back is to join him. Eon works for Father Time at the Universal Time Agency, which fights the time thieves, 600 separate species of insectile monsters that each feeds off a different type of fun time. Taj’s whole community is in danger, and only Taj can return their time to them…but there is a powerful enemy out there guiding the thieves. Can Taj and the agents stop him in…time? Both producers for the media organization the Story Pirates, Bondor-Stone and White aim for an older audience than their tales about Shivers the pirate…and end up with a bit of a mess. The premise isn’t a bad one, but the metaphysics are so poorly communicated that readers will question the many inconsistencies throughout. Characterization suffers as well, failing to explain arguably the most important question, which is, why is Taj the chosen one? The book seems to adhere to the white default.
An easily avoided waste of time. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: May 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267142-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after.
Drake has been selected by the king to serve as a Dragon Master, quite a change for an 8-year-old farmer boy.
The dragons are a secret, and the reason King Roland has them is a mystery, but what is clear is that the Dragon Stone has identified Drake as one of the rare few children who have a special connection with dragons and the ability to serve as a trainer. Drake’s dragon is a long brown creature with, at first, no particular talents that Drake can identify. He calls the dragon Worm. It isn’t long before Drake begins to realize he has a very strong connection with Worm and can share what seem to be his dragon’s thoughts. After one of the other Dragon Masters decides to illicitly take the dragons outside, disaster strikes. The cave they are passing through collapses, blocking the passageway, and then Worm’s special talent becomes evident. The first of a new series of early chapter books, this entry is sure to attract fans. Brief chapters, large print, lots of action, attractive illustrations in every spread, including a maplike panorama, an enviable protagonist—who wouldn’t want to be a Dragon Master?—all combine to make an entertaining read.
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-64624-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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