A compelling page-turner with depth.
In a futuristic city where the wealthy live in high towers above the poisonous air and citizens are entertained by death matches between hybridized animals, two teens defy the government in hopes of changing their world.
Marcus Lund, an idealistic resident of the Sky Towers, and Leesa Khan, a street-smart inhabitant of the underground community of the Drain, work together to free the hybridized animals from NuFormz, the evil corporation responsible for their mutations. Castor, half–German shepherd and half-eagle, must lead his band of misfits through the broken city toward the Greenplains. But along the way, they will need to fight mutants determined to kill them and humans determined to recage them. Only Kozmo, a combination of bat and fox, holds some clue about what the future may have in store. This clever dystopic fantasy successfully juggles a host of both human and animal voices. The exploration of subjective morality gives this story heart and a unique depth. However, diversity resides primarily with the animal characters; Richardson’s chapter-head illustrations represent both Marcus and Leesa with white skin, and aside from her last name, there’s no real indication of ethnicity or race. While the government’s evil machinations feel over-the-top, the combination of endearing hybrids and complex humans makes this a series worth investing in.
A compelling page-turner with depth. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-225757-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The whimsy is slight—the story is not—and both its interest and its vocabulary are for the youngest members of this age...
Beverly Cleary has written all kinds of books (the most successful ones about the irrepressible Henry Huggins) but this is her first fantasy.
Actually it's plain clothes fantasy grounded in the everyday—except for the original conceit of a mouse who can talk and ride a motorcycle. A toy motorcycle, which belongs to Keith, a youngster, who comes to the hotel where Ralph lives with his family; Ralph and Keith become friends, Keith gives him a peanut butter sandwich, but finally Ralph loses the motorcycle—it goes out with the dirty linen. Both feel dreadfully; it was their favorite toy; but after Keith gets sick, and Ralph manages to find an aspirin for him in a nearby room, and the motorcycle is returned, it is left with Ralph....
The whimsy is slight—the story is not—and both its interest and its vocabulary are for the youngest members of this age group. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 1965
ISBN: 0380709244
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1965
BOOK TO SCREEN
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