Definitely a continuation rather than a freestanding episode, but the author keeps her ongoing plot galloping along and adds...
An old foe sets a deadly trap for two young werewolves in a sequel framed by family reunions and positively festooned with hideous vampires.
Magical creatures are rising up all over Europe. Recently bitten teen Nat and his shapechanging BF Woody have joined Nat’s father and a traveling circus of fauns, furies and other cryptids (“All the incredible things you are about to see are REAL!” the Ringmaster disingenuously informs excited audiences) in France. Almost immediately, they are attacked by flights of fantastically ugly bloodsuckers under the command of a malign and crafty vampire revived by the previous episode’s über-villain Lucas Scale. Fortunately the lads/cubs have on their side not only Alexandra Fish, hypercompetent young vampire slayer and British secret agent, but Woody’s Wolven relatives—a reclusive clan of particularly powerful white werewolves. Along with vampires that explode in gross showers of gooey ichor when staked, Toft tucks in the odd colorful turn of phrase (“…feeling about as nervous as a small nun at a penguin shoot”) and fart joke to lighten the load. She leaves her doggy buddies at the end alive and resolved to join Fish in putting paid to Scale’s demonic schemes.
Definitely a continuation rather than a freestanding episode, but the author keeps her ongoing plot galloping along and adds an assortment of marvelous new creatures to the cast. (Fantasy.10-13)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-545-29492-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones. (Autobiographical fiction. 11-13)
An exhilarating summer marked by death, gore and fire sparks deep thoughts in a small-town lad not uncoincidentally named “Jack Gantos.”
The gore is all Jack’s, which to his continuing embarrassment “would spray out of my nose holes like dragon flames” whenever anything exciting or upsetting happens. And that would be on every other page, seemingly, as even though Jack’s feuding parents unite to ground him for the summer after several mishaps, he does get out. He mixes with the undertaker’s daughter, a band of Hell’s Angels out to exact fiery revenge for a member flattened in town by a truck and, especially, with arthritic neighbor Miss Volker, for whom he furnishes the “hired hands” that transcribe what becomes a series of impassioned obituaries for the local paper as elderly town residents suddenly begin passing on in rapid succession. Eventually the unusual body count draws the—justified, as it turns out—attention of the police. Ultimately, the obits and the many Landmark Books that Jack reads (this is 1962) in his hours of confinement all combine in his head to broaden his perspective about both history in general and the slow decline his own town is experiencing.
Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones. (Autobiographical fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-37993-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A quick, agreeable caper, this may spark some discussion even as it entertains.
Myla and Peter step into the path of a gang when they unite forces to find Peter’s runaway brother, Randall.
As they follow the graffiti tags that Randall has been painting in honor of the boys’ deceased father, they uncover a sinister history involving stolen diamonds, disappearances, and deaths. It started long ago when the boys’ grandmother, a diamond-cutter, partnered with the head of the gang. She was rumored to have hidden his diamonds before her suspicious death, leaving clues to their whereabouts. Now everyone is searching, including Randall. The duo’s collaboration is initially an unwilling one fraught with misunderstandings. Even after Peter and Myla bond over being the only people of color in an otherwise white school (Myla is Indian-American; mixed-race Peter is Indian, African-American, and white), Peter can’t believe the gang is after Myla. But Myla possesses a necklace that holds a clue. Alternating first-person chapters allow peeks into how Myla, Peter, and Randall unravel the story and decipher clues. Savvy readers will put the pieces together, too, although false leads and red herrings are cleverly interwoven. The action stumbles at times, but it takes place against the rich backdrops of gritty New York City and history-laden Dobbs Ferry and is made all the more colorful by references to graffiti art and parkour.
A quick, agreeable caper, this may spark some discussion even as it entertains. (Mystery. 10-12)Pub Date: May 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2296-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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