In this amiably goofy sequel to The Neddiad (2007), sharp tongued Yggdrasil (Iggy) Birnbaum takes center stage to find out why the ghosts of Hollywood are disappearing. Though she usually considers the specters haunting the Hermione Hotel nuisances, Iggy finds cause for concern when so many turn up missing that the festive (if silent) Day of the Dead parade is visibly smaller. Learning that they’re all slipping away to an otherworldly version of Hackensack, Iggy and buddies Neddy and Seamus follow. Along the way, they encounter a reckless Toad and a few other strangely familiar characters, are repeatedly warned not to piss off a witch and then do it anyway, undertake a dangerous quest for a talismanic bunny and finally help the good witch Shmenda drive off a coven of evil witches who have taken over the local government. Iggy breaks her narrative off abruptly in the midst of the happy ending, promising a further sequel to readers who find trips into Pinkwater’s odd noggin diverting. (Fantasy. 11-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-618-59445-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2009
Low in physical violence, while being rich in moral and ethical issues, as well as in appealingly complex characters and...
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-316-05777-0
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Megan Tingley/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Four fifth-graders are recruited by a scheming magician in this hefty bonbon from the author of the Fablehaven tales. At first, Nate, Summer, Trevor and Pigeon think they have it good. Having asked them to help her recover a hidden treasure that (she says) belongs to her, Belinda White, friendly proprietor of a sweets shop that has just opened in their small town, provides some uncommon candies—like Moon Rocks, that give them the ability to jump like grasshoppers, and literally electrifying Shock Bits. When she begins asking them to commit certain burglaries, though, their exhilaration turns to unease, and rightly so; Mrs. White is actually after a draft from the Fountain of Youth that will make her the world’s most powerful magician. And, as it turns out, she isn’t the only magician who’s come to town—not even the only one whose magic is tied to sweets. Filling out the supporting cast with the requisite trio of bullies, plus magical minions of various (and sometimes gross) abilities, Mull trots his twist-laden plot forward to a well set-up climax. Leaving the door open an inch for sequels, he dishes up a crowd-pleaser as delicious—if not so weird—as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . (Fantasy. 10-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-59038-783-2
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2007
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