by Greg van Eekhout ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2011
The real, scary possibility of human destruction of our own environment is tempered by this diverting tale of the...
A boy, a robot and a mammoth struggle to survive after the apocalypse.
Fisher “becomes born,” as he thinks of it, out of a gel-filled pod in a destroyed Ark meant to preserve dozens of species along with human life after environmental cataclysm. He seems to have been endowed with a complete understanding of language and of his surroundings, and with, as he notes in awe, an awareness of hundreds of ways to catch fish: “I know all of them.” He is accompanied by the somewhat damaged guardian robot Fisher christens Click and by a juvenile mammoth Fisher calls Protein (after deciding not to kill and eat the gentle giant…just yet). This trio makes its way across the North American continent in search of a second and finally a third Ark in order to help Fisher fulfill his mission of continuing the human species. Self-reinventing weaponry meant to defend each of the Arks leads to the destruction both of Fisher’s birthplace and the Southern Ark, where an encounter with nano-technology is by turns hilarious and creepy. Part speculative fiction, part cinematic survival adventure, the novel features a brisk pace and clever and snappy dialogue.
The real, scary possibility of human destruction of our own environment is tempered by this diverting tale of the possibilities of continued existence and the meaning of hope, friendship and community. (Science fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 21, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59990-524-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
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by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 2014
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
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by Rosanne Parry ; illustrated by Mónica Armiño ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2019
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey.
Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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