A series opener with straightforward appeal.
The search for a missing hamster leads two siblings into a monstrous underworld.
Edison Beaker and his little sister, Tesla, last saw their beloved father four years ago. After his mysterious disappearance, Edison, always afraid of the dark, has kept close the trusty flashlight his dad had left him. One night, when tagging along with their uncle, a “creature seeker” masquerading as an exterminator, the Beaker siblings learn firsthand what types of pests he hunts when Tesla’s hamster, Scuttlbutt, rolls his ball through an unusual portal known as the Night Door. Once over its threshold, Edison and Tesla find themselves in the monster-filled Underwhere (expect the obvious jokes) and promptly pair with an androgynous, purple-skinned creature named Knox in order to find the missing Keystone needed to seal the Night Door and keep the nefarious Darkness and its monsters at bay. This first graphic novel in a proposed series will not disappoint, and its cheery illustrations, fast pace, and easy humor will appeal to fans of Judd Winick’s Hilo series or Ben Hatke’s work. The tale feels comfortably familiar in its worldbuilding and its accessible theme of light versus dark, but fresh details keep it from feeling formulaic. Character diversity is all but nonexistent, as the Beakers are all the white default. While this volume has a satisfactorily tidy resolution, enough threads are left dangling to foster interest in subsequent adventures.
A series opener with straightforward appeal. (Graphic fantasy. 6-10)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-425-29192-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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