A fun middle-grade story that will appeal most to kids who already love computers.
A modern, middle-grade take on the Lewis Carroll classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that combines puns and wordplay with video games and computer terminology.
Sixth-grade smart aleck Alicia loves hacking into computers, and she’s the president of the Chaos Computing Club at her school. She never takes responsibility for anything she does, though, whether it’s losing her glasses or breaking a window; “It’s not my fault!” is her constant catchphrase. When she neglects to turn in her homework on time, she convinces her clueless teachers that computer-gnomes ate it and congratulates herself on getting away with a lie. But one evening, much to her surprise, real gnomes come out of her computer and take her through a hole in its camera—and into a virtual dream world. Alicia is transformed into a two-dimensional, miniature version of herself, trapped on the wrong side of the monitor. As she ventures deeper inside Computer Land, she meets the “bugs,” “worms,” “mice,” and other creatures that live there. She also inadvertently introduces a virus, hidden inside a real Trojan horse, which threatens to destroy the computer from the inside out. With the help of her avatar, White-Rabbit; her hacker friend, Caterpillar; and her video game–playing brother, Alicia must stop the virus before it erases her virtual self. She also learns how to take responsibility along the way. Vasquez Garcia (The Witch Narratives: Reincarnation, 2012, etc.) has created a zany mashup of elements from Alice and The Wizard of Oz, illustrated with well-known images from art and children’s literature, combined with pencil drawings. The story is crammed with clever puns based on computing terms, and a helpful glossary explains unfamiliar words (“spaghetti code”; “worm-flu”). Barreling forward at a frenetic pace, the nonsensical plot resembles that of a video game. However, its abrupt ending may leave readers wondering whether it was all a dream.
A fun middle-grade story that will appeal most to kids who already love computers.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2014
ISBN: 978-1502913906
Page Count: 190
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
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