A middle-grade adventure story with plenty of action and an engaging plot, which may appeal to fans of the Indiana Jones...
Russell (Across the Mekong River, 2012, etc.) returns with her second middle-grade adventure story about the teen hero of Martin McMillan and the Lost Inca City (2005), who this time finds himself tracking down criminals in Thailand.
Martin McMillan’s father works at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, where he is about to open the “Treasures of Thailand” exhibition, featuring an enigmatic statue known as Ruby Elephant, which is rumored to hold the key to a long-lost hoard of treasure belonging to a 16th-century Thai prince. Martin and his friends get caught up in the disappearance of the elephant, and the trail leads them to Thailand, where—despite the misgivings of their parents—they vow to unravel the clues and find the missing treasure. Their adventure includes details of dynastic battles between Thai rulers and descriptions of ancient temples that are at times intrusive, breaking up the narrative flow, but the action is fast-paced as Martin and his friends plunge deeper and deeper into danger. In attempting to provide excitement, the story sometimes goes too far, such as when Martin, who has just turned 13, and his friend Isabel find themselves taken hostage by a dangerous gang, gagged and bound, only to escape in an abandoned car, despite having next to no driving experience. The book also offers an inconsistent characterization of Junya, a Thai girl with a less than perfect command of English, who at one point relates the complicated history of King Naresuan’s nephew Prince Luang without stumbling and at other moments has difficulty finding simple words. The text has occasional typos, such as spelling a character’s name “Sofia” and “Sophia” on the same page, but the story is engaging and peppered with surprises, and the background of Thailand is well-drawn.
A middle-grade adventure story with plenty of action and an engaging plot, which may appeal to fans of the Indiana Jones movies.Pub Date: July 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1475149807
Page Count: 216
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 23, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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