A strong close to a rousing interstellar romp.
The exploits of the O’Hero-Smith clan conclude in a whirl of action with a rescue, a family reunion, and a quest on a distant world that’s enveloped in the webs of “spiderous monsters.”
Opening with a dramatic unicorn hunt and culminating in just deserts for all, this finale continues at the previous two entries’ breakneck pace. Cowell pitches the five young siblings from a blended and extended interracial family into one pickle after another—often ones involving monsters. Adding to the suspense, they also face the indestructible Infinity Clock that’s set to disastrously rewind time for the entire universe. Fortunately, all the children, including beloved baby Annipeck, bring both solid family ties and helpful magical Gifts to bear. For all that the young folk occupy center stage, two associated grown-ups make big enough splashes to draw attention and sympathy too: Everest O’Hero, K2 and Izzabird’s errant and repentant father, who, due to a curse, has shrunk to two inches in height and also turned blue, and insouciant occasional narrator Horizabel the Grimm, a sort of godmother who spends much of the tale trapped by an evil witch upside down between panes of glass. Strewing the pages with scribbly ink drawings, Cowell chucks in a small black hole at the lively climax to help with the vanquishing of certain deserving villains. With exquisite drama, everything comes around right in the literal nick of time.
A strong close to a rousing interstellar romp. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9780316602488
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
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
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