A London teenager eagerly follows his father to a new life in Tanzania—and straight into disaster. When their light plane crashes in the Serengeti, only Chris is uninjured enough to go for help. Not only natural dangers stand between him and the nearest settlement; there's also a deadly pair of ivory poachers, who are surprised in action and vengefully chased by an American and a retired game warden who's there on a photographic safari; an aging lion, undertaking his last journey, also closely parallels Chris's course. All these players converge at the climax; meanwhile, the story's drama is heightened by some melodramatic prose (``His gorge still rose as his nostrils caught the heavy stench of animal breath, blood breath, blood stench, blanketing the air in this savage and terrible place'') and by a succession of vividly set scenes. The characters in this all-male adventure (well, there are some female lions) are painted in bold strokes—in the American's case, rather broadly: ``He asks me if I know how to shoot...I'm a New Yorker. In New York you're born knowing how to shoot....'' For fans of Paulsen and other no-frills adventure novelists. (Fiction. 11-15)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-15-262408-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fitting end to a brilliantly conceived and developed series.
In his eighth, greatest and (billed as) final exploit, Artemis Fowl finally puts paid to archnemesis Opal Koboi while also saving humanity from extinction, but at a steep price.
The malign pixie Koboi has escaped prison, sown widespread destruction on both the surface and in the high-tech underground fairy realm, and acquired massive magical mojo. Now she is set to unlock two nested spells on the Fowl estate. One binds the spirits of a band of ancient fairy warriors to her while allowing them to possess any living or once-living bodies available, and the other unleashes Armageddon on the entire human race. Enter Artemis, with his usual sidekicks and allies, from tough fairy cop Holly Short to dangerously flatulent dwarf Mulch Diggums. Punctuating his breakneck narrative with silly turns, sudden extreme violence and memorable turns of phrase—“…like the man with the exploding head, it was a one-time trick”—Colfer pits his resourceful crew against an army of killer bunnies and decomposed corpses (most of the estate’s other residents being off for Christmas). All this is on the way to a smashing set of climactic twists and turns, just deserts and life-changing sacrifices.
A fitting end to a brilliantly conceived and developed series. (Fantasy. 11-14)Pub Date: July 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4231-6161-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 9, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
That Bynum comes up with so many lines to rhyme with “Altoona Baboona” deserves some kind of acclaim, even if the rhymes make readers laugh and groan at the same time. Altoona Baboona is an ape that “gets bored on her dune-a,” hops a “hot air balloon-a” and goes south to “Calcun-a.” On her hot air travels Altoona meets up with a loon-a and a racoon-a, who come back to the dune-a for an evening bonfire and roasted marshmallows. Bynum’s watercolors have a breezy ocean air feel to them, as light and buoyant as her simian heroine. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201860-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
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