A sixth book in the series is expected, to the delight of Charlie’s fans.
Master storyteller Harley scores again with fourth-grader Charlie Bumpers and friends as they suffer on a losing soccer team.
Charlie, Hector, and Tommy could be the best soccer trio in history if only they could play offense at the same time. Why can’t coach Mr. Carmody see that? Harley’s fifth book in the Charlie Bumpers series sets the scene on the soccer field instead of the classroom or the school stage. Deftly straddling the gap between slapstick-level soccer beginners and serious preteen athletes, the Pirates focus on fundamentals while getting shellacked by all their opponents. Since winning a game seems elusive (although all the adults say they never keep score), the three friends pool their resources selling chocolate bars for the fundraiser. Maybe they can win that prize instead! Harley paints a world immediately familiar to most 9-year-olds and embellishes it with the high jinks that life provides. Charlie’s soccer team is terrible. Charlie’s family drives him crazy. Charlie loses the fundraising money. Nothing life-threatening, nothing alien, just honest-to-goodness growing up while learning to play for the love of the game. The surprise is that it is suspenseful, hilarious, and revealing, with no tidy solution at the end. This is a quick and easy read, comforting and diverse even if suburban; in addition to white Charlie, African-American Tommy, and Latino Hector, the Pirates are a nicely multiethnic team.
A sixth book in the series is expected, to the delight of Charlie’s fans. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-56145-939-1
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In simple, lyrical language, accompanied by richly colored paintings, newcomer Santangelo tells a story of how friendship and trust replaced fear and hatred. Once, a very long time ago, a lone wolf was “old and tired, and a new young leader had taken his place.” The wolf remained behind, near an Italian mountain village as his pack moved on. The next morning, to his surprise and good fortune, a young lamb strayed from its flock and appeared right in front of him. Gathering his last bit of energy the old wolf pounced and filled his empty belly. Over the next few weeks the wolf stole a lamb here, a goat there, and even wandered into the town. The town’s people didn’t see an ancient, wretched lone wolf. Their imagination and fear had created a monster so big and terrible that they could barely leave their homes. The baker grew tired of being afraid and set out for the village of Assisi, where a man named Francis lived. They had heard that Francis could tame the wildest of beasts. Santangelo creates unique illustrations by using ink and colored pencil on wood panels (bordered in gold leaf), laid out in a style reminiscent of segments of stained glass. Santangelo’s palette is slightly dark and muddy, which feels at odds with the reference to cathedral windows. However, the deep purples, greens, and blues are applied in a pattern of staining that allows the wood grain to show through, and the overall effect is quite lovely. A promising debut. No source notes. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-929766-07-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000
A familiar story skillfully reimagined for today’s gadget-savvy youth.
Hannah Hadley is a young special agent who must thwart a clear and present danger to the United States in Hoover’s “smart is cool” young adult novel.
Hannah Hadley might seem like most 13-year-old girls. She enjoys painting, playing with her MP3 player and spending time with friends. But that’s where the similarities end. Hadley doubles as Agent 10-1, among the youngest spies drafted into the CIA’s Div Y department. She’s joined in her missions by her 10-pound Shih Tzu, Kiwi (with whom she communicates telepathically), and her best friend Tommie Claire, a blind girl with heightened senses. When duty calls, the group sneaks to a hidden command center located under the floor of Hadley’s art studio. Her current mission, aptly named “Operation Farmer Jones,” takes her to a secluded farmhouse in Canada. There, al-Qaida terrorists have gathered the necessary ingredients for a particularly devastating nuclear warhead that they intend to fire into America. The villains are joined by the Mad Madam of Mayhem, a physicist for hire whom the terrorists force to complete the weapon of mass destruction. With Charlie Higson’s Young James Bond series and the ongoing 39 Clues novellas, covert missions and secret plans are the plots of choice in much of today’s fiction for young readers, and references to the famed 007 stories abound in Hoover’s tale. But while the plot feels familiar, Hoover’s use of modern slang—albeit strained at times—and gadgets such as the iTouch appeal to today’s youth. Placing girls in adult situations has been a mainstay since Mildred Wirt Benson first introduced readers to Nancy Drew in The Secret of the Old Clock, but Hannah Hadley is like Nancy Drew on steroids. Both are athletic, score well in their studies and have a measure of popularity. Hadley, however, displays a genius-level intellect and near superhuman abilities in her efforts to roust the terrorists—handy skills for a young teen spy who just so happens to get the best grades in school.
A familiar story skillfully reimagined for today’s gadget-savvy youth.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0615419688
Page Count: 239
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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