Still, how the friends proceed makes for an amiable tale and a subtly scathing critique on today’s exploitative media...
Busy monster-chasing adventures in an alternate-universe Hollywood, California.
Brown introduces 11-year-old buddies Tommy Wainwright, Collen “Spike” Hernandez, and Karim Khalil, who’s the son of legendary fantastic-beast hunter and former TV star Yousef “The Fang” Khalil. What starts as the threesome trapping—and Tommy taking a selfie with—a basilisk at their school moves to their successfully catching a mischievous gremlin before failing to nab a two-toed snipe. Along the way, they ensnare the attention of AppVenture, an online monster-elimination service with some questionable branding and job practices, including hiring the underage trio. Characterization is uneven. The author develops Tommy from a white male “beefcake” to a loving big brother who uses his AppVenture earnings to send his 8-year-old sister to Adventure Camp and Karim (who presents black) from a son scared of his own—and his father’s—shadow to a young person claiming his legacy. Unfortunately, Spike comes across as a person with anti-social personality disorder in the guise of a plucky Latina heroine who deeply resents her father, Luis, who divorced her mother, moved across the country, and resurfaces as an employee at AppVenture. This mixes with some unnecessary punching-down jokes about suing for fat discrimination and a tiresome running gag about Tommy’s love for the protein product Brotein.
Still, how the friends proceed makes for an amiable tale and a subtly scathing critique on today’s exploitative media culture and gig economy. (Science fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: July 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-31851-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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