A boisterous, slapstick adventure that will entertain budding readers, despite its skimpy character development.
A trio of adventurous kids and two oddball adults find unexpected treasure in this middle-grade adventure by siblings Wilhelm (The Price of Denial, 2013) and Terrat (True Shoes, 2012).
Youngsters Luis, Speedup and Hayley B. have heard the story of the pirate Jean Lafitte, and how he may have left some buried treasure in their hometown of Sandy Feet, Florida. One day, they finally decide to go after the treasure themselves, with nothing more than Hayley B.’s “intuition” and her grandfather’s shovel to aid them. Cue the arrival of big, dumb Yuke Johnson, and his only slightly smarter friend, Bug Luck—two slapstick prospectors who hopped a train car expecting to arrive in Alaska rather than Florida. All Yuke knows is digging, so when Bug gets upset about being so far south, Yuke reacts by digging up the street all the way down to the water main, sending the police chief's car up in a geyser. Of course, the kids recruit these wacky strangers to help them in their own quest to find Lafitte’s treasure. Although they don’t discover Spanish doubloons under the Sandy Feet beach, they do accidentally discover another historical treasure, and the friendships they build are an even better payoff. The diversity of the main trio of friends is refreshing. However, there are some stereotypical elements that don’t make the best use of the cast; for example, Hayley B., the only girl, is the one with intuition, and the town’s police chief is a fun-hating doughnut eater. Yuke and Bug are ridiculous and unbelievable, but that’s part of their charm. This Kickstarter-funded chapter book is designed for readers who are just moving on from beginner books, but not yet ready for larger novels. As a result, the vocabulary and high-interest topic are sure to please readers in that niche. The notes on pirate history at the end of the book extend the fun beyond the story.
A boisterous, slapstick adventure that will entertain budding readers, despite its skimpy character development.Pub Date: April 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9857836-4-8
Page Count: 67
Publisher: Long Stride Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
In an imaginative wordless picture book, Wiesner (illustrator of Kite Flyer, 1986) tours a dream world suggested by the books and objects in a boy's room. A series of transitions—linked by a map in the book that the boy was reading as he fell asleep—wafts him, pajama-clad, from an aerial view of hedge-bordered fields to a chessboard with chess pieces, some changing into their realistic counterparts (plus a couple of eerie roundheaded figures based on pawns that reappear throughout); next appear a castle; a mysterious wood in which lurks a huge, whimsical dragon; the interior of a neoclassical palace; and a series of fantastic landscapes that eventually transport the boy back to his own bed. Most interesting here are the visual links Wiesner uses in his journey's evolution; it's fun to trace the many details from page to page. There's a bow to Van Allsburg, and another to Sendak's In the Night Kitchen, but Wiesner's broad double-spreads of a dream world—whose muted colors suggest a silent space outside of time—have their own charm. Intriguing.
Pub Date: April 20, 1988
ISBN: 978-0-06-156741-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1988
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