“Listen now, ye belly-whackers,” pirate fans are sure to savor this seafaring adventure and crave another in the series.
Ahoy ye mateys! Clamber on board the Sea Wolf for a salty adventure.
As the first in Bunting’s new series ended, 15-year-old Catherine, The Pirate Captain’s Daughter (2011), had been marooned on a desolate island with William, cabin boy and love of her young life, and the situation was looking grim. They’re rather fortuitously rescued by the Sea Wolf, captained by superstitious red-haired pirate Medb, a spirited and domineering woman. Medb is immediately smitten with William and determines to claim him as her own, whether or not the young lovers agree. Sebastian, the captain’s wily assistant, comes to Catherine’s aid, but the situation is still fraught with peril as they sail off toward a confrontation with a treasure ship. Like the first in the series, this effort is plot driven, but there’s enough lusty adventure to sustain those pirate fans who may find Catherine’s introspective yearning for William an unnecessary distraction from swashbuckling. It’s a swift read with a strong female protagonist, a bit of romance and plenty of action. The grittiness of the situation is both informative and a bit disgusting: The pirates, for example, have a handy restroom—they haul themselves out over the sea in a net that features a conveniently placed hole. Aye, tis true.
“Listen now, ye belly-whackers,” pirate fans are sure to savor this seafaring adventure and crave another in the series. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-58536-789-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
Awful on a number of levels—but tidily over at last.
The rebellion against an evil archmage and his bowler-topped minions wends its way to a climax.
Dispatching five baddies on the first two pages alone, wand-waving villain-exterminator Vega Jane gathers a motley army of fellow magicals, ghosts, and muggles—sorry, “Wugmorts”—for a final assault on Necro and his natty Maladons. As Necro repeatedly proves to be both smarter and more powerful than Vega Jane, things generally go badly for the rebels, who end up losing their hidden refuge, many of their best fighters, and even the final battle. Baldacci is plainly up on his ancient Greek theatrical conventions, however; just as all hope is lost, a divinity literally descends from the ceiling to referee a winner-take-all duel, and thanks to an earlier ritual that (she and readers learn) gives her a do-over if she’s killed (a second deus ex machina!), Vega Jane comes away with a win…not to mention an engagement ring to go with the magic one that makes her invisible and a new dog, just like the one that died heroically. Measuring up to the plot’s low bar, the narrative too reads like low-grade fanfic, being laden with references to past events, characters who only supposedly died, and such lines as “a spurt of blood shot out from my forehead,” “they started falling at a rapid number,” and “[h]is statement struck me on a number of levels.”
Awful on a number of levels—but tidily over at last. (glossary) (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-26393-0
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Without that frame, this would have been a fine addition to the wacked-out summer-camp subgenre.
Survival camp? How can you not have bad feelings about that?
Sixteen-year-old nerd (or geek, but not dork) Henry Lambert has no desire to go to Strongwoods Survival Camp. His father thinks it might help Henry man up and free him of some of his odd phobias. Randy, Henry’s best friend since kindergarten, is excited at the prospect of going thanks to the camp’s promotional YouTube video, so Henry relents. When they arrive at the shabby camp in the middle of nowhere and meet the possibly insane counselor (and only staff member), Max, Henry’s bad feelings multiply. Max tries to train his five campers with a combination of carrot and stick, but the boys are not athletes, let alone survivalists. When a trio of gangsters drops in on the camp Games to try to collect the debt owed by the owner, the boys suddenly have to put their skills to the test. Too bad they don’t have any—at all. Strand’s summer-camp farce is peopled with sarcastic losers who’re chatty and wry. It’s often funny, and the gags turn in unexpected directions and would do Saturday Night Live skits proud. However, the story’s flow is hampered by an unnecessary and completely unfunny frame that takes place during the premier of the movie the boys make of their experience. The repeated intrusions bring the narrative to a screeching halt.
Without that frame, this would have been a fine addition to the wacked-out summer-camp subgenre. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4022-8455-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
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