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TREASURE OF THE GOLDEN SKULL

From the Maudlin Towers series , Vol. 2

More “faldoolery” for fans.

Could there be hidden pirate treasure somewhere about that might save the decrepit old school from closing?

Once again, students Arthur Mildew and Algernon “Sponge” Spongely-Partwork set off on a round of “detectivating,” as only a stash of gems purportedly left by Greenbeard the pirate can save Maudlin Towers from being shut down. Fortunately, there are plenty of only mildly obscure clues to the trove’s location scattered about the grounds. Unfortunately, news of the trove gets out, and soon the faculty is suddenly replaced by a bevy of more colorful, if perhaps less qualified, strangers with names like Jacques Blacques and Leather-Nose Susan who bill themselves as descendants of Greenbeard’s crew. There are other, more subtle, treasure hunters on the prowl too. Plainly considering this as but one in a continuous string of episodes, Priestley chucks in references to previous events, an encounter with a time-traveling teacher who was dead in the previous outing, and a giant, floating eyeball explicitly slated to reappear in a future one. Channeling Edward Gorey, the author gives the all-white cast depicted in frequent ink drawings and closing gallery a comically cadaverous look. This import is coming to the U.S. as is, complete with British spellings and punctuation conventions for an immersive experience.

More “faldoolery” for fans. (Gothic farce. 10-12)

Pub Date: July 9, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4088-7310-6

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019

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MILLIONAIRES FOR THE MONTH

Cinematic, over-the-top decadence, a tense race against time, and lessons on what’s truly valuable.

A reward of $5,000,000 almost ruins everything for two seventh graders.

On a class trip to New York City, Felix and Benji find a wallet belonging to social media billionaire Laura Friendly. Benji, a well-off, chaotic kid with learning disabilities, swipes $20 from the wallet before they send it back to its owner. Felix, a poor, shy, rule-follower, reluctantly consents. So when Laura Friendly herself arrives to give them a reward for the returned wallet, she’s annoyed. To teach her larcenous helpers a lesson, Laura offers them a deal: a $20,000 college scholarship or slightly over $5 million cash—but with strings attached. The boys must spend all the money in 30 days, with legal stipulations preventing them from giving anything away, investing, or telling anyone about it. The glorious windfall quickly grows to become a chore and then a torment as the boys appear increasingly selfish and irresponsible to the adults in their lives. They rent luxury cars, hire a (wonderful) philosophy undergrad as a chauffeur, take their families to Disney World, and spend thousands on in-app game purchases. Yet, surrounded by hedonistically described piles of loot and filthy lucre, the boys long for simpler fundamentals. The absorbing spending spree reads like a fun family film, gleefully stuffed with the very opulence it warns against. Major characters are White.

Cinematic, over-the-top decadence, a tense race against time, and lessons on what’s truly valuable. (mathematical explanations) (Fiction. 10-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-593-17525-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020

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KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES

From the Keeper of the Lost Cities series , Vol. 1

Wholesome shading to bland, but well-stocked with exotic creatures and locales, plus an agreeable cast headed by a child...

A San Diego preteen learns that she’s an elf, with a place in magic school if she moves to the elves’ hidden realm.

Having felt like an outsider since a knock on the head at age 5 left her able to read minds, Sophie is thrilled when hunky teen stranger Fitz convinces her that she’s not human at all and transports her to the land of Lumenaria, where the ageless elves live. Taken in by a loving couple who run a sanctuary for extinct and mythical animals, Sophie quickly gathers friends and rivals at Foxfire, a distinctly Hogwarts-style school. She also uncovers both clues to her mysterious origins and hints that a rash of strangely hard-to-quench wildfires back on Earth are signs of some dark scheme at work. Though Messenger introduces several characters with inner conflicts and ambiguous agendas, Sophie herself is more simply drawn as a smart, radiant newcomer who unwillingly becomes the center of attention while developing what turn out to be uncommonly powerful magical abilities—reminiscent of the younger Harry Potter, though lacking that streak of mischievousness that rescues Harry from seeming a little too perfect. The author puts her through a kidnapping and several close brushes with death before leaving her poised, amid hints of a higher destiny and still-anonymous enemies, for sequels.

Wholesome shading to bland, but well-stocked with exotic creatures and locales, plus an agreeable cast headed by a child who, while overly fond of screaming, rises to every challenge. (Fantasy. 10-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-4424-4593-2

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012

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