George and Edie remain admirably stoic heroes, but dry prose inhibits this conclusion’s pace. In a many-layered London, George and Edie are stuck in a timeless moment, the only humans who didn’t disappear when time froze. They’re not alone, though: Spits (metal and stone statues, mostly war figures) fight for good, while Taints (sculptures of non-human creatures) ally with the double-strong force of the dark. The dark has an Ice Devil and the ghoulish Walker, a grisly immortal who kills casually and steals life-forces. George and Edie’s tenacious fighting spirits are especially touching because of their separate histories of emotional loss, but the narration’s verbosity decelerates motion; for example, a falling object is “an angular jagged shape getting bigger with startling rapidity as it spun straight at them,” its speed slowed by description. Battle action and Edie’s nightmares also grind to a trudge. Only Edie’s time-travel views of the Walker torturing her mother move quickly and creepily. Mostly for fans of the livelier second installment. (Fantasy. 10-13)
Pub Date: April 7, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4231-0179-6
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009
Here's proof that serious inventors need not be adults, and that inventions need not be complex, expensive machines to be patentable, marketable, and sometimes, lucrative. From a rotary steam engine (George Westinghouse, 15) and a safety device for cotton mills (Mattie Knight, 12) to earmuffs (Chester Greenwood, 15) and popsicles (Frank W. Epperson, 11), the products and devices thought up by young people are as exotic or commonplace as anything in the annals of invention. Basing his accounts on interviews as well as published sources, Tucker cuts through the mythology built up around some of these inventorstheir unembroidered stories are amazing enoughas he describes how that first flash of inspiration was nurtured and refined, often engendering other ideas, or even becoming a springboard for a career. Would-be Edisons or Franklins will find episodes from their heroes' youths, right next to the stories of Maurice Scales, 7, (a device that prevents toddlers from slamming doors on their fingers) and Hannah Cannon, 11, inventor of a new card game; a closing chapter includes canny advice about recordkeeping and applying for a patent. With black-and-white photos, diagrams, and drawings, this is enthusiastic, pleasantly specific, well-researched, and inspiring. (Biography. 10-13)
Pub Date: July 19, 1995
ISBN: 0-374-30944-2
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1995
Although he's a year younger, Curtis is a talented guitarist and an aspiring rock star whose biggest (and only) fan is C.C., short for Cecily. Her crush on him is strong enough to make her ignore everything the good nuns at school have taught her and impulsively give him a great big wet French kiss. Cluck, who's been in love with C.C. forever, doesn't like this; neither does friend Grace, who's wild about Cluck, nor Patrick, who also likes C.C. Everything's a real mess, but all is straightened up in time for the spring formal in Fiedler's first book. It's all silly fun, one neighborhood over from Sweet Valley and not quite Judy Blume territory, but harmless and sweetly innocent. Young romance readers will love it and long for more. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 18, 1995
ISBN: 0-395-70733-1
Page Count: 121
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995
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