A breezy, wide-open window into the turbulent heart of a dramatic third-grade adventurer and her small-town Virginia...
Eight-year-old Iva Honeycutt dreams of being a discoverer—and she’s sure her great-grandfather Ludwell’s treasure map, if not her unreliable dog Sweetlips, will help make that wish come true.
Iva considers herself to be “interesting, different”—even by the standards of Uncertain, Va., and its eccentric cast of characters, from taxidermist and tax man Mr. Priddy to her mouth-breathing cousin Heaven. Iva can’t stand Heaven—she tattles, prays out loud and even steals her best friend. Iva’s evolving relationship with this long-dreaded cousin and her obsession with finding the gold General Braddock buried during the French and Indian War propel the pleasantly rambling story, but the real treasure here is the fresh, quirky characterization of Iva and the comical reflection of a Southern family that embraces Johnny Cash, Korea, and streaking… and that’s just at breakfast. Though crayon colors are contemporary, the excessively applied figurative language feels old-fashioned, with expressions like “one red cent” and “hotter than smoke from a locomotive.” Expressions like “marks” (vs. grades) and “a fat lot” even add a curiously English flair to the goings-on. Ross’ expressive, cartoonish black-and-white sketches are just goofy enough to fit the story’s exuberance.
A breezy, wide-open window into the turbulent heart of a dramatic third-grade adventurer and her small-town Virginia community. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4231-3173-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Separate e-book versions of the entire Boxcar Children series are or soon will be available, but this “bundle” makes an economical way to pick up the first 12. The classic (“dated” to use a more cogent term) original line-drawn illustrations have been preserved in each mystery, but the type size and style can be altered to suit, and each opens with an image of a recent color cover. The “enhanced version” adds four professionally produced, two-minute-or-shorter video clips. These feature fulsome appreciations of the books and their original author by employees and volunteers from Connecticut’s Gertrude Chandler Warner Museum, overviews of the museum and some of its memorabilia—plus a 500-or-so–word biography of Warner and 10 photos of the author, her home and the railroad station that inspired the stories. The absence of Gertrude Chandler Warner and The Boxcar Children, the 1997 biography of the author by Mary Ellen Ellsworth, represents a missed opportunity. As it is, the extra content is no more than a lagniappe but provides at least a glimpse of the series’ live-wire creator for both young readers and nostalgic adult fans. (Enhanced e-book. 9-11, adult)
Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-4532-1117-5
Page Count: 2813
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
Artie’s first day at Ardmore Middle School starts off badly: Before he even leaves the house he’s fallen out of bed, zapped...
A preteen horror take on Groundhog Day.
Artie’s first day at Ardmore Middle School starts off badly: Before he even leaves the house he’s fallen out of bed, zapped himself plugging in the cellphone charger and been squirted with syrup by his little brother. It gets so radically worse that by the afternoon he’s received the dismaying news that a gang has been dispatched to beat him up on the way home at the Principal’s request. Before that can happen, to his astonishment, he’s suddenly waking up in bed. Was it a dream? Hard to say, because again he falls out of bed, zaps himself, gets squirted and goes on to another first day that is nearly the same but even more disastrous. And then again. Each round gets shorter but weirder as Artie’s struggles to head off catastrophes he knows are coming lead to bizarre accidents, wild chases, scary discoveries in the school’s dank, dark basement and, at last, a truly memorable encounter with an oversized custodian who disintegrates into a pack of weasels. After that, it’s almost a letdown when Stine explains Artie’s misadventures with a logical and obvious revelation.Pub Date: July 19, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-64954-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
