A red-haired foundling makes friends and begins a promising set of adventures on the ninth anniversary of her discovery in a travel bag in London’s Victoria Station.
Now living in a run-down manor in Cornwall, Minerva Mint hopes desperately to learn the identities of the parents who abandoned her nine years earlier. This series opener introduces Minerva’s mysterious origins and her two companions. Every year, just before Minerva’s birthday, her guardian, Geraldine Flopps, advertises for her parents; every year, imposters appear to claim her. She runs off this year’s pair with a magic owl-calling flute but only after a series of episodes in which clues are presented, materials gathered, and the children’s personalities revealed. Minerva is adept with a slingshot and can tell when people are lying. Blonde Thomasina is privileged and prepared for adventure. Immigrant Ravi is afraid of heights but willing to do almost anything for Thomasina. There’s a great deal of climbing, some literal cliff-hanging, a magic potion and a secret compartment. The companions scare off Minerva’s nemesis, evil Gilbert O’Sullivan, but it’s clear he’ll return. Occasionally the translation doesn’t quite hit the mark, but cinematic action carries the story forward. Readers will be eager for more. (Six titles have been published in Italy.) Predictable but appealing for series fans. (Adventure. 7-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-6237-0038-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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