An exciting and entertaining heist story.
A 12-year-old mastermind concocts a multifaceted plan to thwart the school’s underground kingpin.
DJ is new to Ella Fitzgerald Middle School and has done a good job of staying off the radar and not running any scams since his transfer. That is, until Conor, the best friend he’s ghosted all summer, shows up in his new classroom. In less than a week, Conor has managed to get on the bad side of Lucas “Lucky” Ford and his sidekick, Mariposa Diaz, the two students responsible for every school racket. Now, in order to save Conor from being socially exiled, DJ has agreed to help him procure 100,000 tickets to Starcade, a nearby video game arcade/pizza parlor that is a favorite destination for the students, even if it means returning to the very life he tried to leave behind. The boys set their sights on the Mega Starcade across town. However, a project of that magnitude means putting a crew together. They need to find someone charismatic to provide distraction and another who’s imposing for the muscle, as well as plan for every pitfall in case things go awry. DJ’s inviting first-person narration will make readers feel like they’re in on the action, making this Ocean’s Eleven–esque page-turner even more engaging. Clean, straightforward dialogue and charming characters increase the appeal for readers looking for a satisfying story. DJ is Black; Conor and most of the cast are assumed White.
An exciting and entertaining heist story. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-74671-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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