A disappointing attempt to engage puzzle-loving readers.
Jigsaw puzzle billionaire Penelope Pennypickle sponsors another race down Route 66 that’s replete with both visits to roadside attractions and riddles and ciphers to solve in this second series entry.
Twelve-year-old Jackson finds himself competing in a reality TV show race even though he can’t, according to the rules, claim a share of the $1,000,000 prize because his widowed advertising executive dad works for the reclusive sponsor. As the Chicago-to-Santa Monica race pauses at attractions from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis to a famous “corner in Winslow, Arizona,” Jackson and Hope, his preteen teammate, quickly bond over a shared love for solving the not-too-difficult brain teasers that lead to each stop. And as if many references to jigsaw pieces fitting together aren’t broad enough hints, even while Jackson is coming to realize that Hope’s single mom, Faith, who does the driving, is so perfectly momlike that she fills a gap left in his life since the death of his own mother, he conveniently overhears a telling conversation that catches him (but possibly not readers) unawares. Grabenstein leaves readers with glimpses of some faded Americana and a fund of dad jokes, but like the previous road trip, this outing too ends with a string of telegraphed, anticlimactic revelations about the cast, the contest’s real purpose, and even the supposed prize. Callos contributes occasional spot art puzzles. The cast presents white.
A disappointing attempt to engage puzzle-loving readers. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9798217120871
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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