Easy, slick and silly; it’s Saturday-morning-cartoon hijinks between the covers of a book.
Hiding out’s easy; forcing 150 pounds of former guard dog to hide out—not so much.
Thirteen-year-old "Man With The Plan" Griffin Bing and his five friends are celebrating the fifth birthday of Savannah's rescued Doberman, Luthor, when S. Wendell Palomino, or "Swindle," as they came to know him during their first adventure, arrives to say he is suing to get Luthor back. The kids know it's because Swindle heard that Luthor nearly won a ton of money at a recent dog show. When the dog pound fails to produce Luthor’s release-for-adoption paperwork, Swindle wins him back. Rather than surrender her beloved fur-friend, Savannah prevails on the group to help her hide him...but all of them are headed to different summer camps in a few days. Griffin must devise his most complex plan to date, and when that goes south (as most of his plans do), it’s on to yet another scheme, since Swindle’s promised to use his dog-show winnings to make the kids' lives miserable forever. Korman's fifth caper is wholly unbelievable from start to finish but a ton of fun nonetheless. Kids will be too busy laughing at the antics of Griffin and his pals to mind their implausibility.
Easy, slick and silly; it’s Saturday-morning-cartoon hijinks between the covers of a book. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-44866-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
Reflective children will revel in this thought-provoking world.
The journey to find a child becomes an existential quest for an abandoned teddy bear.
Buddy is not just any stuffed bear, but a blue Furrington Teddy with a Real Silk Heart. So why did he wake up in a landfill with other Furringtons of varying hues? A more pressing matter, however, is escaping Trashland and its murderous gulls and bulldozers. Yearning to connect with a child and achieve a state of peaceful Forever Sleep, Buddy and his new friends of differing temperaments and gifts set out on a harrowing journey through the city to find children who will want them. As they encounter other Furringtons in disarray, this opener in The Teddies Saga series becomes a mystery about why these teddies are being harmed in the first place. While the visceral narrative follows the teddy troupe’s adventurous challenges and survival, its focus is on Buddy’s inner struggles as he ponders identity, leadership, and other existential dilemmas. Kraus doesn’t shy away from anger, fear, death, and other dark subjects; instead they become opportunities for growth in difficult environments. Cai’s intense, slightly nightmarish grayscale illustrations add immeasurably to the text. Reminiscent of Watership Down in theme and structure, the novel’s intermittent teddy creation stories also become parables of a moral code and extend the epic story arc. A cliffhanger ending sets the scene for the next installment.
Reflective children will revel in this thought-provoking world. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-22440-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
An action-packed fantasy containing a surprising twist.
An old curse and untapped magic lead a boy on a worldwide quest to save his aunt.
Ever since 13-year-old Shinji Takahashi’s parents died, he and his Aunt Yui have lived a life that includes months of travels, hunting for unique items for her shop in Miami. While floating down the Zambezi River, Shinji comes upon a mysterious shop with a small figurine of a Coatl, or mythical feathered serpent, that seems to be calling to him. But after he buys it, Shinji is kidnapped and held captive by the Hightower Corporation in New York City. Aunt Yui is nowhere to be seen—and the Coatl figurine has transformed itself into a tattoo on Shinji’s arm. A Hightower villain informs him that it brings with it a deadly curse. Meanwhile, young prodigy Lucy, who has been working for the corporation, appears in Shinji’s room in the middle of the night: After overhearing Hightower’s evil plans for him, she decides to help him break out. Lucy suggests reaching out to the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, Hightower’s archrivals, for help returning the Coatl to its original temple and finding Shinji’s aunt. This intriguing venture builds to a compelling climax. One question that remains unanswered is why Japanese American Shinji, who has no Mesoamerican heritage, is chosen by the Coatl to be its rescuer; perhaps this will be resolved in the next entry in this new series.
An action-packed fantasy containing a surprising twist. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-06819-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
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