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SCRAP CITY

Lacks energy, finesse, and focus.

While accompanying his father and uncle on a real estate venture to the local junkyard, 11-year-old Jerome Barnes discovers an underground town filled with sentient creatures made from discarded items.

Jerome’s scavenging leads him to Arkie, a boy fashioned out of an ice chest, an old coffee can, and other assorted objects. The two become fast friends. The odd companionship is a welcome one for Jerome, who is still grieving over the recent tragic death of both his mother and his younger brother. Arkie is equally pleased to have someone to accompany him on his adventures both aboveground and below. When the Lifestream, the force that gives life to the recycled residents of Smithytowne, is corrupted, Jerome and Arkie must work together to save the homes of humans and Scrappers alike. The premise is delicious, and the underlying message that warns against consumerism and consumption is admirable, but formulaic characters, an obvious mystery, and clunky dialogue undermine its impact. The story is further plagued by a series of plot twists that serve only to prolong the story. And while Jerome holds promise as a hero, the over-the-top villain is more cartoonish than truly frightening, destroying any real tension.

Lacks energy, finesse, and focus. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-62370-297-7

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Capstone Young Readers

Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015

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CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE TYRANNICAL RETALIATION OF THE TURBO TOILET 2000

From the Captain Underpants series , Vol. 11

Dizzyingly silly.

The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.

Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.

Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)

Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014

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A WOLF CALLED WANDER

A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.

Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.

Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.

A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: May 7, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019

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