This outrageous meteorological adventure will leave readers eager for the final Lightning Catcher volume.
In this second Lightning Catcher book, 12-year-old Angus McFangus learns more about his storm-prophet powers while investigating a mysterious storm vortex engulfing the Perilous Exploratorium for Violent Weather and Vicious Storms.
Angus and pals Dougal and Indigo begin their second year of studies with a volatile storm brewing over Castle Dankhart, poised to hurl weather weapons at Perilous. Is villainous Scabious Dankhart responsible? While lightning catchers work to uncover Dankhart’s plot, Angus and classmates experience scarlet sleeping snow, rancid rain, shimmer sharks, and murderous mist. Angus also receives special instruction on the history of storm prophets, including a visit to the Perilous crypt, where early storm prophets are entombed with their storm dragons. When his storm dragon is unexpectedly aroused, Angus realizes he can control as well as predict weather. Angus, Dougal, and Indigo witness a shocking betrayal and find themselves in grave danger as they discover Dankhart’s cataclysmic weather plans. Humorous boarding school high jinks, weird weather scenarios, and eccentric personalities abound as the engaging trio pursue theatrical villains with diabolical schemes. Black-and-white spot art adds atmosphere.
This outrageous meteorological adventure will leave readers eager for the final Lightning Catcher volume. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-211283-5
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Affecting and hopeful.
A stray dog finds her destiny amid the chaos of a Southern California wildfire.
Wombat is a small dog with stubby legs and “silly ears / that look like furry cookies”—almost impossibly cute in Bricking’s occasional pencil-style vignettes. She’s mastered the art of survival, so when a mysterious internal voice prods her to go toward the fire, she resists. “The wrong way is the right way. / The right way is the wrong way,” the voice insists. When she tells fellow stray Silas about it, he tells Wombat she’s a “destiny dog,” bound to “find their person / before their person / can find them.” Convinced, she decides to follow the mysterious instructions. Meanwhile, Henry, a boy who’s leery of dogs, loves the bats at the wildlife rehabilitation center where Mama Ro, a veterinarian, works; his Mama J is a librarian. Henry and Barnabas, a fruit bat at the center, are both uprooted by the fire, and their paths converge with Wombat’s at an emergency shelter. The third-person perspective shifts from character to character in clusters of free-verse poems that fully immerse readers in each one’s experiences in turn. This extra-concentrated delivery of Applegate’s typically spare writing proves effective, balancing terror and sadness with heart and humor. Henry has light brown skin, Mama Ro has curly black hair and brown skin, and Mama J presents white.
Affecting and hopeful. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780063221178
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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