A light wash of horror over thought-provoking observations about “dumb” kids and the roots of bullying, with an admixture of...
The Monsterrific series goes Kafka in its final turn.
Bitten by mutant bugs that swarm out of a moldering cereal box, school bully Ludlow finds himself changing into an oversized insect—smelling with his arms, munching on raw leaves, drooling uncontrollably at the suddenly delicious odors coming from Dumpsters and garbage bins. There are scary physical changes, too. Unfortunately, the most logical allies Lud can enlist to understand and cope with his transformation are nerdy habitual victims Norman and Sebastian. Getting past years of bad experiences isn’t going to be easy for either side. Moreover, like the protagonists in preceding volumes, Lud also ultimately has to choose whether to stay a monster or not. Lubar paints a sympathetic portrait of Lud as a victim himself: of nature, nurture and the low expectations of others. But despite troubles in school, he displays throughout a hidden gift for jokes and wordplay that leads in the end to a well-earned talent-show triumph.
A light wash of horror over thought-provoking observations about “dumb” kids and the roots of bullying, with an admixture of comically gross bits. Illustrations not seen. (Horror. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7653-3082-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Starscape/Tom Doherty
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
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Spindly the plotline may be, but it’s greened up with a few yuks and rises from an unusually fertile series premise.
The discovery of a detailed journal kept by his patchwork dad’s creator prompts a child with mismatched parts of his own to start tracking down his many “cousins.”
Only just found in the box in which 14-year-old J.D. (for John Doe) had been left as an infant at Mr. Shelley’s Orphanage for Lost and Neglected Children®, Dr. Frankenstein’s notebook not only clues the boy in to his parentage (or at least his father’s identity), but provides tantalizing leads to the original owners of dad’s components. As J.D. has inherited eyes of different colors and hands and feet of different sizes, he figures that he’s related to said owners—and so sets out to find them or, more likely, their descendants. His search acquires particular urgency thanks to Dr. Frankenstein’s amoral daughter, Frances Kenstein, who is likewise on a quest to recreate her father’s magnum opus using body parts with the same DNA. Repetitively noting how “cute” she is and uttering “Don’t panic,” and “I’ll figure something out” with mantralike frequency, J.D. rescues an explorer in Antarctica and a would-be young police detective in LA from his acquisitive rival in this two-episode opener. Though occasionally given to clumsy turns of phrase, his narrative is stocked with jokes, blotches, gross bits, typeface changes, side notations, sketched vignettes and color illustrations.
Spindly the plotline may be, but it’s greened up with a few yuks and rises from an unusually fertile series premise. (Light fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4342-9130-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Stone Arch Books
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
High-energy high jinks in a multicultural, or at least multispecies, setting.
Young sleuths stumble on a demonic conspiracy to blow the lid off Slick City’s new sports arena. Just for a start.
Goblin Fizz Marlow and troll gearhead Tank Wrenchlin are convinced that slimeball schoolmate Rizzo Rawlins’ supposedly homemade battle bot illegally incorporates professional-grade code and components. Their search for proof leads them and elven trainee wizard Aleetha to several puzzles. Who is the mysterious “Codex,” and why is he (or she) supplying Rizzo as well as hacking Slick City’s computer systems to threaten disaster if the just-finished Slurp Stadium is opened for the upcoming Battle Bot Cup? How did the stadium come to be built over a magic stone that could, as old maps hint, serve as a portal to demon worlds? What can a trio of fourth-graders do, opposed by corrupt officials, a bully with a pair of hulking hench-ogres, and a local business tycoon with—as it turns out—a high-tech hand-held demon controller? Well, plenty, though not without a few missteps, help from a surprising temporary ally, and lots of climactic bot-smashing. In a slick mix of narrative blocks and panels of nonscary monsters delivering punch lines in dialogue balloons, the exploit careens along to a triumphant close.
High-energy high jinks in a multicultural, or at least multispecies, setting. (Graphic/mystery/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4598-0813-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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