A mild futuristic caper.
His third outing sends 25th-century ragamuffin Max on a dramatic rescue mission.
Investigating the nature of a small, sticky square that bears the likeness of ancient tennis superstar Neptune Williams forces Max to descend from Skyburb 6 to smoggy but prosperous Bluggsville. There, not only are he and his airborne kind reviled as “shadies,” but his beloved beagle-bot falls into the clutches of archnemesis Capt. Selby and is shipped off to be reprogrammed. There’s nothing for it but to sneak back into the drab vocational institution from which he had escaped two years before and save his prized robo-pooch. With help from friends and a bit of techno-wizardry, he carries the caper off with aplomb. But the mysterious artifact fizzles, as no one really wants it except Max’s ex-roomie Brandon, who just happens to be a Neptune Williams fan and in an anticlimactic exchange casually identifies it as a postage stamp. Neither the narrative nor Atze’s cartoon drawings (in which all the human figures except Brandon, a few background faces, and the long-dead Williams are white) add enough detail to make the setting more than vaguely futuristic, and the prejudice against class rather than race may ring oddly in American ears (the series is an Australian import). Still, independent readers might find the rescue’s chases, escapes, and mild suspense absorbing. Macintosh tacks a disquisition on postage stamps to the end.
A mild futuristic caper. (Science fiction/mystery. 7-9)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5383-8468-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: West 44 Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Fluffy, wholesome and, well, sparkly.
A new, sparkle-packed series introduces magical sisters who control the seasons.
Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer are the Sparkles, the magical sisters with themed Sparkle Powers who change the seasons for the Outworlder humans through the Sparkle Ceremony. Autumn’s the most responsible and cautious of the four, the least likely to join a game of Sparkle-Dare, so it’s natural for Mother Nature to ask Autumn to be caretaker for a special birthday gift (a beautiful blanket) for her adviser, Serenity. But when Autumn tries to break out of her mold by joining in a game of Sparkle-Dare, she accidentally summons an uncontrollable wind that blows away the precious blanket. The sisters chase it through Winter’s Sparkledom, where they encounter the villainous Sleet. Sleet is one of the Weeds, a troublemaking set of bad-weather– and natural-disaster–themed brothers. The sisters defeat him and continue to chase the blanket throughout the Sparkledoms, only to lose it to Sleet’s tricky brother, Twister. The Weeds use it to set a trap for the Sparkles, but their inability to work as a team, plus Autumn’s lesson in discretion—determining when to leap impulsively and when to stop and plan—saves the day for the Sparkles. The blanket safely arrives at the birthday party, as do the villains—but as welcome guests. Cheerful spot illustrations showcase an ever smiling, diverse cartoon cast. The sheer number of iterations of “Sparkle” will determine this book’s audience.
Fluffy, wholesome and, well, sparkly. (Fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61963-256-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
Earwig, as a spunky as any Jones heroine, keeps young and old readers chuckling through sadness at an era's end
A cunning heroine learns magic in Jones' last, posthumous offering.
Most children hate orphanages, but Earwig—Erica Wigg, according to her birth certificate—loves hers. Earwig manages people to perfection, and everyone at Saint Morwald's Home for Children does exactly what Earwig wants, whether it's making her a shepherd's pie or buying her a new red sweater. She's excellent at making herself unlovable to potential foster parents so they'll leave her alone in sunny St. Morwald's. But a terrible new pair of prospective parents arrives at the home: nasty-faced Bella Yaga and the Mandrake, a ridiculously tall man who seems to have horns. Bella Yaga and the Mandrake cart Earwig off, willy-nilly, to powder rats' bones and cook breakfast. Indomitable Earwig determines that if she must work for a smelly witch, at least she'll learn magic. But how to do so when wicked Bella Yaga keeps threatening to give her worms? Moreover, no matter what, Earwig has been warned not to disturb the Mandrake, who trucks with demons. Earwig, illustrated with marvelous vitality by Zelinsky, is not to be trifled with. There's just the right level of grotesquerie and scariness (worms that are "blue and purple and very wriggly") in this utterly charming chapter book.
Earwig, as a spunky as any Jones heroine, keeps young and old readers chuckling through sadness at an era's end . (Fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-207511-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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