Disconnected plot elements give this quirky tale from Doyle (Spud Sweetgrass, 1996, etc.) a superficial, slapdash air. Fleeing his abusive father, Mickey washes up at his uncle's farm outside a small Quebec town, where, due to some kindness, he loses his intense fear and penchant for bedwetting. Later his battered mother appears, too, with his father hard on her heels; she and Ronald drive him off, but in his rush to get away he falls beneath a passing train. Meanwhile, the town is engaged in a localized tax revolt, playing a variety of amusing pranks on a hapless squad of assessors. Doyle's anile brand of humor—Mickey's account of what happens when he tries to keep his bed dry by attaching a hose to himself will have some readers wincing, and after the tax collectors' wagon wheels are loosened, ``policemen's nuts'' becomes a running joke—trivializes the story's serious themes, although the serious ultimately weighs down the farcical. Framing the whole episode as a flashback narrated by Mickey at age 112 adds a faintly grotesque, pointless twist. Unlike Spud, this Doyle's a dud. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-88899-266-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Well-worn character types and plot devices may earn the first juvenile title in Amazon’s new line of imports a little traction with fans of Cornelia Funke’s mysteries. Quintessentially meek orphan Darius Dorian looks upon an assignment to shadow violin-maker Archibald Archinola for two weeks as a welcome chance to escape his orphanage roommate’s bullying. Then Darius discovers that plucking a certain old violin in Archinola’s shop causes any wound or illness to disappear. He steals the violin and is subsequently kidnapped by a doltish con man and his termagant mother, who force his assistance as they set themselves up as miracle healers. Along with a relentlessly two-dimensional bully, Reh trots in a supporting cast led by Darius’ new Asian friend Mey-Mey (“the outer corners of her eyes bend upwards like the corners of a smiling mouth”), sets up a budding romance between the stuffy-but-decent Archinola and a local jeweler and ultimately sends the con artists packing. Despite potentially confusing bits—from repeatedly-mentioned “brown patches” on Mey-Mey’s neck and hand that turn out to be calluses rather than birthmarks to everyone’s sudden and inexplicable loss of interest in the violin’s magic at the end—the tale’s steady predictability will keep less-demanding readers engaged. (Fantasy. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-61109-004-8
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
A memorable, edge-of-the-seat escapade that will enthrall confirmed fans and newbies alike.
The penultimate episode in this well-crafted series pits apprentice wizard Septimus and allies against a relentless tide of Things bent on overwhelming the Magyk that protects the town of Castle and establishing a penumbral Darke Domaine.
Their 14th birthdays become more battles for survival than celebrations for Sep and Princess Jenna when she is captured by the powerful Port Witch Coven. His planned visit to the deadly subterranean Darke Halls takes on special urgency after the Darke finds an opening in the palace and begins pouring out in a deadly tide through the streets. As usual, not only is the cast, particularly the large and tumultuous Heap family, sharply drawn both in the tale and in Zug’s finely detailed character studies at the chapter heads, but the danger and the spellcasting alike seem vividly real and credible. Lightening the load with humorous byplay and tucking in plenty of ghosts, strong-willed characters, deft literary references—a character named Bertie Bott, a house on There And Back Again Row—and a particularly exciting dragon battle, Sage expertly weaves multiple new and continuing plotlines together. An appendix ties up what loose ends it can while leaving the door open for the conclusion.
A memorable, edge-of-the-seat escapade that will enthrall confirmed fans and newbies alike. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-124242-7
Page Count: 656
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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