Four kids fight back against an evil tyrant in this fantasy geared for middle graders from a veteran YA author.
Anxious, lonely Henry lives with his parents next to the raucous, loving Dante family, and he’s long yearned to befriend the family’s oldest son, Apollo. However, it’s only after Apollo’s little brother Rocco is changed into a lizard by Vlad Luxor, their Horrible Ruler with Magic, that Henry gathers his nerve to band together with Apollo and Jo and Pirate Girl, two other kids, to try to find a way to break the spell. Playful names and vocabulary set a fantastical mood, and stylized, vintage-looking drawings and diagrams are peppered throughout. From the start, it’s clear that a familiar epic battle is to be fought between the decent young people and the sinister megalomaniac leader. Luxor is described as a science-denying, thick-fingered, image-obsessed oaf with an inability to spell—a setup that feels heavy-handed even with the abundance of quick-paced action that propels the novel along, which seems destined for a sequel. Most of the characters, including Henry, the Dantes, and Pirate Girl, are white, or at least are assumed to be by default. Jo and her family are South American.
Too-clever details and cloying messages get in the way of this story. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-1305-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
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It’s been 42 days since the Monster Apocalypse began, and 13-year-old Jack Sullivan, a self-proclaimed “zombie-fighting, monster-slaying tornado of cool” is on a quest to find and rescue his not-so-secret crush, June Del Toro, whether she needs it, wants it, or not.
Jack cobbles together an unlikely but endearing crew, including his scientist best friend, Quint Baker; Dirk Savage, Parker Middle School’s biggest bully; and a pet monster named Rover, to help him save the damsel in distress and complete the “ULTIMATE Feat of Apocalyptic Success.” Middle-grade readers, particularly boys, will find Jack’s pitch-perfect mix of humor, bravado, and self-professed geekiness impossible to resist. His sidekicks are equally entertaining, and it doesn’t hurt that there are also plenty of oozing, drooling, sharp-toothed monsters and zombies and a host of gizmos and gadgets to hook readers and keep them cheering with every turn of the page. Holgate’s illustrations play an integral role in the novel’s success. They not only bring Brallier’s characters to life, but also add depth and detail to the story, making plain just exactly how big Rover is and giving the lie to Jack’s “killer driving.” The marriage of text and illustration serves as a perfect example of what an illustrated novel can and should be.
Classic action-packed, monster-fighting fun (. (Graphic/horror hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-670-01661-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
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Two shelter cats take on a mysterious puss with weird powers who is terrorizing the feline community.
Hardly have timorous (and aptly named) Poop and her sophisticated buddy, Pasha, been brought home by their new “human beans” for a two-week trial than they are accosted by fiery-eyed Scaredy Cat, utterly trashing the kitchen with a click of his claws and, hissing that he’s in charge of the neighborhood, threatening that if they don’t act like proper cats—disdaining ordinary cat food and any summons (they are not dogs, after all), clawing the furniture instead of the scratching post, and showing like “cattitude”—it’ll be back to the shelter for them. Will Poop and Pasha prove to be fraidycats or flee to the cowed clowder of homeless cats hiding from the bully in the nearby woods? Nope, they are made of sterner stuff and resolutely set out to enlist feline allies in a “quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of purrs!” Cast into a gazillion very short chapters related by furry narrators Poop and Pasha, who are helpfully depicted in portrait vignettes by Herzog at each chapter’s head, the ensuing adventures test the defiant kitties’ courage (and, in some cases, attention spans) on the way to a spooky but poignant climax set, appropriately enough as it happens, in a pet graveyard.
A-mew-sing fare for readers who sometimes feel like fraidycats themselves. (Adventure. 9-11)Pub Date: March 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-49443-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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