Adventurous if not particularly venturesome.
Riddles, monsters, bullies, and buckets of slime challenge the Dungeoneer Academy trainees in their second quest.
Fresh from exploits in the opener’s Fungal Jungle, Green Team students find themselves in the frozen subterranean reaches of the Shimmering Shar, on the trail of a nefarious gang of academy washouts and facing all manner of hazards from deadly ice golems to a smothering avalanche of cheesy fries. Meanwhile the ongoing struggles of Coop Cooperson, the school’s only human, with schoolwork, envy of charismatic new student Kody, and foot-in-mouth awkwardness around girls add a substrate of more familiar challenges. Practically channeling a certain classic, the authors add a tin man and a witch—the latter, moody kobold Ingrid Inkheart, turns out to be the good sort—to the multispecies cast and set up wizardly hazards galore on the way to the climax. Monochrome illustrations on every spread both ease the visual weight of the narrative blocks and add comical reaction shots and banter to further lighten the load for newer readers. By the end, Coop has wrestled personal issues to a draw, inspired boggart teammate Dazmina to face up to her divorcing parents by reassuring her that her friends have her back, shown magnanimity by forgiving two repentant bullies, and even aced “Widdles and Wunes” (as the rhotacistic professor pronounces it). “Who can guess what’s next for Dungeoneer Academy?” Coop concludes. Well, one sequel at least, for sure.
Adventurous if not particularly venturesome. (Illustrated fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781665910712
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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