Warmly funny and entertaining.
Sixth grader Willis Shine eludes the police by hiding in a town where all the inhabitants are robots.
Willis is on the run after stealing several rare books from the library of the wealthy Mrs. Shorthouse. Willis’ Uncle Tod, his neglectful guardian, an unscrupulous, unsuccessful used bookshop owner, is the mastermind behind these crimes. He set the boy up with a job reading to the elderly woman and then instructed him to acquire specific books. When Willis turns on the electricity that powers a robot town, a project of the late Mr. Shorthouse that’s hidden on a lake island, the helpful, personable robots resume jobs they last performed in 1955. The island community is a quirky, retro, mid-century suburban wonderland, and robot Nathan618 offers Willis the kind of care parents might have given him—routines, regular meals, notes in his packed lunches. Willis’ friends Harrison Choi (who comes from a loving Korean American family) and Galaxi Katzenberg (“her parents wanted her to have an anything-is-possible sort of name”) are determined to find their missing friend despite his recent rude behavior. Willis is earnest and perceptive, a boy whom readers will root for who’s drawn a harsh lot in life. Most of the third-person point-of-view chapters follow Willis, but Harrison and Galaxi have their own sections as well. The ending satisfyingly wraps up a story that’s worth a large and willing suspension of disbelief. Most cast members present white.
Warmly funny and entertaining. (Science fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781774887288
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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