The co-authors of Peter and the Starcatchers (2004) go to the same well, and that would be one trip too many. When the evil Others come back with a powerful new ally to recover the trove of supernal Starstuff rescued in the first episode, Peter reluctantly leaves Mollusk Island (“Never Land”) to deliver a warning to Molly (Wendy’s mother-to-be) and the other Starcatchers. Despite introducing a chilling, Dementor-like bad guy in the person (or whatever) of soul-seizing Lord Ombra, and pacing cranked up by dozens of quick point-of-view cuts, so dependent is the plot on repetitive set pieces—how many times will Ombra ooze into another clueless victim’s shadow? Or Tinkerbelle use her flashbulb trick to daze some attacker?—that the melodrama soon takes on a labored cast. Overstuffed with narrowly typecast characters and featuring a bulky side plot shoehorned in apparently just to keep Captain Hook and the Lost Boys in sight while the other players are off in London, this formulaic sequel shows two writers for adults who are just going through the motions. (Fantasy. 11-13)
Pub Date: July 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7868-3787-X
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Tucson gives a young San Diegan a warm welcome in more ways than one in this relaxed, readable debut. Rick Morales isn’t all that happy to be moving with his mother, Sylvia, to another state, but meeting Natalie, a friendly girl, and Madam [sic] Yang, a collie-sized, 500-year-old dragon, soon puts him into better spirits. Madam Yang does not grant wishes (“Do I look like a genie? You’ve been mythinformed”), but does breathe fire, and volunteers to transport Rick, Natalie, and her little brother, Ben, into magical adventures. Weaving in a budding romance between Sylvia and a local veterinarian, Stewart decorates the plot with comic set pieces, such as an ugly pet contest and a nearly disastrous encounter between Madam Yang and Nat’s deliciously princess-like cousin Olivia. Although everyone tends to take Madam Yang so much in stride that she seems more an exotic pet than an Event, the likable cast and tongue-in-cheek humor will keep readers turning the pages. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1430-2
Page Count: 117
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers who prefer their monsters lizard-headed or with vampire fangs, snake-haired, hunchbacked or overmuscled, froggish or doggish, need look no further than this over-the-top tale of two human siblings helping a notably motley semi- or non-human cast stave off an alien invasion of Earth. When five small monster figurines bought at a garage sale return to life and original size after being dipped in water, they, along with Anthony and his little sister Sarah, are swept into a whirl of adventure that takes them from a conference inside the mouth of a giant alien frog to a more-than-somewhat Miltonic encounter with a fallen angel in the Land of the Dead. It seems that boulder-hewed (and scenery-chewing) barbarians from Planet Flinduvia plan to strip Earth of its ghosts, using them to reanimate enough dead warriors to conquer the galaxy. Can Anthony and Company hold the baddies off long enough to get a warning through to the powerful Coalition of Civilized Worlds? Do you doubt? Coville offers readers not only a magnificent opening line—“If Sarah hadn’t put the monkey in the bathtub, we might never have had to help the monsters get big”—but an all-star cast, a creepy old mansion for an Earthly setting, magic, mad science, other worlds, and much, much, much more. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-216382-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001
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