Brisk, nonstop, chock-full of awesome exploits.
A fifth-grade superhero gets caught up in a three-way struggle with a supervillain and a mad scientist in his second round of adventures (Smash: Trial by Fire, 2013).
Sneaking out of the house at every chance to train with his mentor, Wraith, compounded with his lack of interest in doing schoolwork, threatens to leave him in imminent danger of being held back. As if that’s not problem enough, Andrew—“Smash” when he’s in costume—is further distracted when a wildly destructive running battle breaks out between the gray-skinned minions of his terrifying nemesis, the Magus, and the mechanical creations of dying inventor Dr. Cobb. It seems that both are after a world-altering prototype power source called the “skeleton key” in order to energize devices that will, respectively, either steal all of Smash’s superpowers or transfer Dr. Cobb’s mind to a healthy new body. The ensuing action is fast, furious, and interrupted only occasionally by scenes at home and the introduction of Jae Kim, a smart and lively new Korean-American classmate who both discovers Andrew’s secret identity and cozens him into better study habits. Some of the crashes, explosions, and humongously thewed bad guys feel crowded into the neatly squared-off panels, but the storylines, open-ended though they remain at the finish, are easy enough to follow. Andrew, darker-skinned than his single mom and big brother, Tommy, continues to lead a diverse and expressively drawn cast.
Brisk, nonstop, chock-full of awesome exploits. (Graphic superhero fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8118-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
Medically, both squicky and hopeful; emotionally, unbelievably squeaky-clean.
A 12-year-old copes with a brain tumor.
Maddie likes potatoes and fake mustaches. Kids at school are nice (except one whom readers will see instantly is a bully); soon they’ll get to perform Shakespeare scenes in a unit they’ve all been looking forward to. But recent dysfunctions in Maddie’s arm and leg mean, stunningly, that she has a brain tumor. She has two surgeries, the first successful, the second taking place after the book’s end, leaving readers hanging. The tumor’s not malignant, but it—or the surgeries—could cause sight loss, personality change, or death. The descriptions of surgery aren’t for the faint of heart. The authors—parents of a real-life Maddie who really had a brain tumor—imbue fictional Maddie’s first-person narration with quirky turns of phrase (“For the love of potatoes!”) and whimsy (she imagines her medical battles as epic fantasy fights and pretends MRI stands for Mustard Rat from Indiana or Mustaches Rock Importantly), but they also portray her as a model sick kid. She’s frightened but never acts out, snaps, or resists. Her most frequent commentary about the tumor, having her skull opened, and the possibility of death is “Boo” or “Super boo.” She even shoulders the bully’s redemption. Maddie and most characters are white; one cringe-inducing hallucinatory surgery dream involves “chanting island natives” and a “witch doctor lady.”
Medically, both squicky and hopeful; emotionally, unbelievably squeaky-clean. (authors’ note, discussion questions) (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62972-330-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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