An urchin, a prince and the prince’s guards protect Victorian England from a threat to its monarchy in this debut novel.
In a small village in 1851, there are no parents, having been forced to abandon their children by order of the Queen. Jack, the oldest of the children, takes it upon himself to travel to London in search of his father, a metallurgist, like many of the village’s missing residents. The boy’s simple journey to the heart of England becomes a grand adventure, as he eventually must make his way on foot and with no money. Along the way, Jack befriends a French engineer named Jules and makes an unlikely ally in Prince Albert. The prince and the five guards who constitute the PRG (Prince’s Royal Guard) seek a device in the hands of Sir Derek Gilman, the secretary of the army, and his son, Sir Daniel, not fully aware of the clandestine group known as the Prime and its nefarious plot. An abundance of steampunk machinery takes center stage, some of it detailed and some pure enigma, including the device; its true design largely unknown. The PRG and even the prince himself display great strength and unfaltering spirit—one of the guards is Milena, a girl a mere 16 years of age—but Jack shines brightest, with the curiosity of a child and the courage of a giant. Author London’s book seems aimed at young adult readers, but it’s free of condescension and is wholly gratifying rather than stripped of components in an effort to achieve simplicity. The novel concludes by teasing a subsequent book with Prince Albert and Jack, both characters whose return would be most welcome. Lyrically descriptive and unabashedly steampunk; the first of what promises to be a rewarding series of novels.
Pub Date: July 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-0615510569
Page Count: 296
Publisher: ZOVA
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Thought-provoking and charming.
A sophisticated robot—with the capacity to use senses of sight, hearing, and smell—is washed to shore on an island, the only robot survivor of a cargo of 500.
When otters play with her protective packaging, the robot is accidently activated. Roz, though without emotions, is intelligent and versatile. She can observe and learn in service of both her survival and her principle function: to help. Brown links these basic functions to the kind of evolution Roz undergoes as she figures out how to stay dry and intact in her wild environment—not easy, with pine cones and poop dropping from above, stormy weather, and a family of cranky bears. She learns to understand and eventually speak the language of the wild creatures (each species with its different “accent”). An accident leaves her the sole protector of a baby goose, and Roz must ask other creatures for help to shelter and feed the gosling. Roz’s growing connection with her environment is sweetly funny, reminiscent of Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. At every moment Roz’s actions seem plausible and logical yet surprisingly full of something like feeling. Robot hunters with guns figure into the climax of the story as the outside world intrudes. While the end to Roz’s benign and wild life is startling and violent, Brown leaves Roz and her companions—and readers—with hope.
Thought-provoking and charming. (Science fiction/fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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