Breathlessly paced adventure with rousingly eerie and icky notes.
Evildoers barely foiled in Monstrous Devices (2018) are back in strength to reopen an ominously named “Shadow Gate” in this sequel.
In the wake of a series of seemingly random art thefts, young Alex once again finds himself recruited by his glib, inscrutable Granddad for a running battle across Europe against mind-controlled robots and razor-edged drones. This time most of the action takes place in the Black Forest, where reality turns out to have thin spots. Along with being charged to figure out how to use his elusive, newly discovered powers to resurrect a dead man, Alex must somehow stymie murderous foes bent on a Walpurgisnacht exploit that may confer immortality on them, open a disastrous rent in the universe, or both. Though events set up hard tests of his loyalty and moral fiber, just as in the previous episode Alex comes off as a rather colorless protagonist next to the adult characters—all of whom, on both sides, sport intriguing combinations of martial prowess and mysterious pasts. Still, Love so packs his tale with car chases and wrecks, sudden attacks, desperate battles, narrow squeaks, weird visions, and startling discoveries, not to mention the occasional blast of magic and tentacled monster from otherwhere, that readers will be nonetheless swept along. Alex’s friend David and his family are Haitian, but otherwise characters present as white.
Breathlessly paced adventure with rousingly eerie and icky notes. (Horror/suspense/fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-451-47861-0
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Though plainly crafted to spark and model book discussions, the tale is generously infused with animating elements of...
Fresh from their experiences with Quasimodo in the series opener (Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame, 2012), three young people again use an elusive inventor’s magic, painted circle to bring a literary character to life.
Choosing to call up Captain Ahab because he’s “the only really interesting character in Moby-Dick,” teen twins Linus and Ophelia and their hunky British buddy Walter embark on a project to turn the sailor away from his obsession with killing the white whale. Though a silly, strung-out deception involving a live cougar and a big plush lion that ends with Walter almost drowning in the nearby river provides little more than comic relief, by the time Ahab has to sink back into his story, he’s come around to understanding that the real issue isn’t the whale but his own wounded pride. Along with a remarkable number of continuing side plots, Samson tucks in frequent commentary about the use of clichés, point of view and like writerly topics from a particularly unlikable intrusive narrator who dubs himself “Bartholomew Inkster, self-taught literary fussbudget.” He also includes short (spoiler-free) dialogues on character, values and motivation—both in Moby-Dick and in general. Next up: D’Artagnan!
Though plainly crafted to spark and model book discussions, the tale is generously infused with animating elements of mystery, romance and comedy—plus a particularly lively and diverse supporting cast of grown-ups. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2012
ISBN: 978-0310727972
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
A wrenching piece with a wisp of hope for the protagonists if not for the rest of their world.
With severe drought, child enslavement, and multiple shootings of people and dogs, this slim volume isn’t for the faint of heart, though it repays those who soldier on.
In an unspecified African “place of dust and death,” in a story somewhere between realism and fable, Nandi the dog narrates an opening scene in which Sarel sees her parents gunned down. The gunmen, failing to find a water source, set the house afire and depart, leaving Sarel orphaned on her desert homestead. An underground grotto with a well sustains Sarel and her pack of dogs—fully family to her—while they recover from smoke inhalation and bullet wounds. In a nearby city, Musa sits in chains, taken outdoors only when gunmen (those who shot Sarel’s parents) need a dowser—Musa hears a buzz in his skull when water’s nearby. One generation ago, there were faucets and lawn sprinklers; now, gangs kill for a water bottle. When Musa escapes and Sarel’s well runs dry, the tale’s fablelike nature makes their meeting inevitable, even in the desert. The narration uses primarily Sarel’s and Musa’s perspectives, describing nature sparely and vividly. Thirst and heat are palpable as kids and dogs fight fatal dehydration. Occasionally, Nandi narrates, in broken English more distracting than doglike.
A wrenching piece with a wisp of hope for the protagonists if not for the rest of their world. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97651-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
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