An SF–infused tale that proves both entertaining and educational.
Time-traveling siblings race to save the world’s future by restoring historical events in this third installment of a middle-grade fantasy series.
After discovering the eye of Ra, Sarah and her younger brother, John, traveled through time and space to ancient lands. They embarked on adventures and saved the planet, so now they can be typical kids in California—if their mom scores a teaching gig there. But apparently there’s more for the siblings to do. Two aging, time-traveling strangers show up and ask for their help. In 2049, a solar flare interrupts a demonstration of a time-slowing device. This catastrophic event not only wipes out the future beyond 2049, but also transports people at the demonstration into the past. Toci, a woman in early-16th-century Mexico, plans to lead the Aztecs in defeating Cortés before he slaughters them. Sadly, this tragedy must occur, as it’s a consequential part of history’s “story lines.” Sarah and John travel back in time to stop Toci, but this smart and resourceful Aztec scholar has already anticipated innovative adversaries and is determined to take down Cortés. Gartner wisely simplifies his briskly paced tale, which zeroes in on a single “mission.” Along with lessening potential time-traveling complications, the move paves the way for additional quests in future volumes. This book is primed for younger readers, highlighting real-life customs and places as well as the Aztecs’ Nahuatl language (with helpful phonetic spellings trailing certain words). The author, meanwhile, paints a sublime portrait of old Mexico and its people: “Canoes drifted on canals like the pictures he’d seen of Venice in Italy….Farther out into the lake, men cast nets and brought up flopping silver fish, their scales sparkling in the sun.” As in earlier installments, the author includes a recipe—xocolatl, a spicy, nonsweet hot chocolate Toci deems an “acquired taste.”
An SF–infused tale that proves both entertaining and educational.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73415-527-3
Page Count: 262
Publisher: Crescent Vista Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stellar collaboration that introduces an important and intriguing individual to today’s readers.
Two bestselling authors imagine the boyhood of the man who became the legendary boxing icon Muhammad Ali.
Cassius was a spirited child growing up in segregated Louisville, Kentucky. He had a loving home with his parents and younger brother, Rudy. Granddaddy Herman also was an important figure, imparting life lessons. His parents wanted him to succeed in school, but Cassius had difficulty reading and found more pleasure in playing and exploring outdoors. Early on, he and Rudy knew the restrictions of being African American, for example, encountering “Whites Only” signs at parks, but the brothers dreamed of fame like that enjoyed by Black boxer Joe Louis. Popular Cassius was especially close to Lucius “Lucky” Wakely; despite their academic differences, their deep connection remained after Lucky received a scholarship to a Catholic school. When Cassius wandered into the Columbia Boxing Gym, it seemed to be destiny, and he developed into a successful youth boxer. Told in two voices, with prose for the voice of Lucky and free verse for Cassius, the narrative provides readers with a multidimensional view of the early life of and influences on an important figure in sports and social change. Lucky’s observations give context while Cassius’ poetry encapsulates his drive, energy, and gift with words. Combined with dynamic illustrations by Anyabwile, the book captures the historical and social environment that produced Muhammad Ali.
A stellar collaboration that introduces an important and intriguing individual to today’s readers. (bibliography) (Biographical novel. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-316-49816-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown and HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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