A pair of appealing adventures with an edgy through-the-looking-glass feel.
Bernard presents two connected children’s novellas of adventure in dystopian lands.
In If You Ride a Crooked Trolley, 9-year-old Peter Myshkin Stephenson from the fictional northern New England town of Halloway is well acquainted with unhappiness and confusion. He wonders about the origins of his orange hair (his parents are both blond), his levels of intelligence and attractiveness, and if he’s to blame for his parents’ bickering. However, he puts all this in proper perspective after he finds himself in an unfamiliar, war-torn region after a ride on a yellow trolley takes him to an unexpected destination. There, a girl in a red coat named Sharlotta initiates Petey into the world of Otherwise, teaching him about the warring Paona and Korgan peoples and a “Spell” that makes it possible to “go back into past and change into future.” She needs Petey to help her find and rescue her family members, who are in a tent somewhere in a Korgan camp. In The Judgement of Biestia, Petey finds that no one believes his story of his Otherwise experience after he returns home—not even his best friend, Chace Fusillade. Later, at the beach, Chace and Petey encounter a huge wave and find themselves treading water in the open ocean. As in many tales for children, this one has Petey embarking on his adventures without proper parental supervision, and he must learn to rely on friends and his own judgment. The worlds that Petey enters are alternate versions of our own in which history panned out differently; for example, the boys’ seagoing rescuers in The Judgement of Biestia have never heard of America. Many of the people he encounters are also realistically hardened by their conditions. Characters’ dialects are also different from standard English, lending the work further authenticity. Petey’s exits from these worlds, though, are rather abrupt; perhaps more direct comparisons to Petey’s everyday life in Halloway would have made these journeys and transitions more meaningful. Two color illustrations by Batra and Seabury, respectively, feature characters and settings from each story.
A pair of appealing adventures with an edgy through-the-looking-glass feel.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-58790-669-5
Page Count: 285
Publisher: Regent Press
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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