The strength’s in the journey—survival skills and environmentalism—not the destination.
In their third interstate journey, the Wilder brothers travel west to save their dog.
Following The Journey Home (2016), 14-year-old Jake and 12-year-old Taylor settle into a peaceful existence in Wyoming with their happily reunited parents, their friend Kim, and their loyal Jack Russell terrier, Cody. But when they encounter the school bully, who attacks the brothers and attempts to kick Cody, Cody nips him. Worse, the bully’s father (who’s on the town council) demands Cody be destroyed. The brothers don’t trust animal control to keep Cody safe from the bullying family, so they abscond with their dog, fleeing injustice. Their goal is reaching their off-the-grid grandmother in northern California. They know her only through letters; their father’s concern over their grandmother’s living alone in the wilderness resulted in a disagreement and then a multiyear estrangement (based on the seemingly paranoid content of some of the letters, Jake and Taylor’s parents feel their worries are justified). The journey is fast-paced, with sympathetic strangers (mostly fellow kids or teens) assisting (especially with transportation). The boys’ nature know-how helps them navigate encounters with wild animals; the book also highlights wildfires and the consequences of deforestation. The biggest conflict comes as the brothers learn the truth about their grandmother’s troubles and find a way to help her, though the resolutions to both stories—the grandmother’s and Cody’s—come easily and anticlimactically. The Wilders are cued White, Kim is Shoshone, and there is diversity in background characters.
The strength’s in the journey—survival skills and environmentalism—not the destination. (Fiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-662-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
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