This quirky fable will either bemuse or beguile.
A crow goes on a journey and is forever changed.
An undersized crow, Little Bird is relegated to menial jobs in her flock. At the story’s opening, she is watching the half-grown fledglings while the other crows do more important jobs. Then a cat comes, and chaos ensues. One fledgling is taken, and, nearly as bad, “Our Luck”—a shiny necklace woven into the rook’s nest as a protective totem—is also gone. Little Bird, shamed, sets off to find it. The third-person narrative is told from Little Bird’s point of view, and while she understands other animals’ speech, they, with the exception of a wise goat, do not understand the language of crows. But understanding and comprehension are two different things, and there are many words Little Bird hears whose meanings she doesn’t know. As Little Bird journeys farther away, she encounters unfamiliar concepts and continually tries to put them into context. This allegorylike story is brilliantly conceived, but its ruminative aspect is tedious at times. Little Bird’s assessing each new experience based solely on what she currently knows is not unlike reading about someone inventing the wheel. Over and over. That said, flashes of bright humor burst joyfully, especially when the other animals talk, and the story’s theme sneaks up on readers: Curiosity changes you, enriches you, and gives you choices.
This quirky fable will either bemuse or beguile. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299689-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
A boisterous balance of potty humor and geek pride in this rollicking young engineer’s adventure, the first of two.
A gang of science nerds unwittingly unleashes a squadron of destructive robots and must engineer a way to save the town in Lerner’s debut novel.
When a mysterious box appears outside Kennedy’s house, he enlists the help of best friend and fellow EngiNerd Dan to sift through the metal parts and hardware. Together, they piece together a polite but ravenous robot named Greeeg. The robot eats all the food in the house—refusing only radishes—and Kennedy discovers that Greeeg is both insatiable and unmanageable. The potential for catastrophe is fully realized when Greeeg propulsively “disposes” (that’s robot defecation) tiny, window-shattering, brown-black cubes. Is the robot from Grandpa K., Kennedy’s hero and a former engineer? Is it coincidence that his best friend also hates radishes? Unfortunately, Kennedy isn’t the only one with a robot problem. Eighteen bullet-farting robots storm town, and the EngiNerds must band together and use ingenuity to prevent the robots from consuming and destroying everything in their wake. Sci-fi readers will enjoy the science and tinkering, but dangerous excreta is pure schoolboy horseplay. The story includes clever duct-tape solutions, the construction of catapults from disposable chopsticks, and a good, old-fashioned water fight in this action-packed celebration of nerd culture. The absence of ethnic markers implies that Kennedy is white, but the surnames of the EngiNerds suggest a diverse assemblage.
A boisterous balance of potty humor and geek pride in this rollicking young engineer’s adventure, the first of two. (Science fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6872-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans.
Only children, rejoice! A cozy mystery just for you! (People with siblings will probably enjoy it too.)
Debut novelist Cornett introduces the One and Onlys, a trio of mystery-solving only kids: Gloria Longshanks “Shanks” Hill, Alexander “Peephole” Calloway, and narrator Paul (alas, no nickname) Marconi. The trio has a knack for finding and solving low-level mysteries, but they come up against a true head-scratcher when the yard of a resident of their small town is covered in rubber ducks overnight. Working ahead of Officer Portnoy, who’s a little on the slow side, can Paul, Shanks, and Peephole solve the mystery? Cornett has a lot of fun with this adventure, dropping additional side mysteries, a subplot about small businesses, big corporations, and economics, and a town’s love of bratwurst into the mix. Most importantly, he plays fair with the clues throughout, allowing astute readers to potentially solve the case ahead of the trio. The tone and mystery are perfect for younger readers who want to test their detective skills but are put off by anything scary or gory. The pacing would serve well for chapter-by-chapter read-alouds. If there are any quibbles, it’s the lack of diversity of the cast, as it defaults white. Diversity exists in small towns, and this one is crying out for more. Hopefully a sequel will introduce additional faces.
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3003-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
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