The delivery of an ancient book propels Archie Greene into a world of magic and danger: the perfect birthday present for any 12-year-old.
Fearing for his safety, Archie’s grandmother sends him to stay with family he has never met. But first he must visit the Aisle of White, a bookshop that specializes in rare and magical tomes. But Archie soon discovers that the shop is also a gateway to the Museum of Magical Miscellany, where curators called the Flame Keepers of Alexandria collect and preserve magical artifacts. Archie is quickly apprenticed to Old Zeb, a bookbinder, from whom he learns about all kinds of magic. But when characters from the books begin endangering the security of the museum and the books themselves begin whispering about a dangerous presence, Archie and his cousins find that they might be the only ones brave enough or foolish enough to investigate. Forced humor, humdrum magic and a mystery that is barely mysterious—not to mention a distressingly familiar-sounding, formulaic title—all combine to create a story that never takes flight. Fans of whimsical fantasy would do well to look elsewhere (or just to reread Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone). While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, it does not necessarily make for good fiction.
Familiarity in fiction breeds boredom. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: April 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-231211-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
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BOOK REVIEW
Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.
The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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