The author's note describing the real Harry Widener and his copy of Essaies may be one of the more gripping aspects of the...
Patrick, an Irish lad, finagles his way on board the Titanic where he becomes a steward to book-collector Harry Widener and becomes embroiled in an intrigue revolving around Widener’s copy of Sir Francis Bacon’s Essaies.
The rare edition is said to contain, in code, a formula for great wealth. A pair of villains, as theatrically eccentric as any created by Willkie Collins, want the book. After failing to steal it, the thieves ask Patrick to procure the Essaies for them in return for a fee. In a sensible response that will echo readers' reactions, Patrick replies, “Why not ask him [Widener] to borrow it?” For although the inequalities of class, wealth and education are running themes in the story, they do not provide adequate motive for theft. Nor is Patrick’s ensuing moral dilemma—should he steal the book to help his heroic brother, who has fallen ill while laboring on the ship?—entirely convincing. The pacing falters, and, although the descriptions are magnificent, that the action takes place on the Titanic is almost inconsequential except for the threat that the formula may be lost forever. Throughout, Patrick learns much about himself, his family and Bacon’s great secret.
The author's note describing the real Harry Widener and his copy of Essaies may be one of the more gripping aspects of the book. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59643-673-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series.
An orphaned street urchin is recruited into an elite school for thieves.
In an alternate world where France is the dominant world power, 13-year-old Tom Morgan has had to scrimp, starve, and steal on the streets of London to survive. Born into a workhouse, he doesn’t know anything about his father, while his mother may have been from North Africa. One thing he does know is the sort of cruelty that awaits the poor who are sent to the workhouse, and he’s determined not to go back. But when their camp is raided and his friends are captured by workhouse agents, the only thing Tom can think of is how to get them out. Enter the Corsair, a cunning and mysterious man with a proposition: He wants to recruit Tom into Beaufort’s School for Deceptive Arts. From nabbing treasures to forging identity papers, Beaufort’s promises to teach Tom everything he needs to know to become a Shadow Thief and a member of the Shadow League, the secret global organization that helps keep the world’s political power in balance. But Beaufort’s has its own rules and secrets, and if Tom is to survive long enough to help his friends, he’ll need to figure them out quickly. Clever and gripping, this fast-paced boarding school story will appeal to fans of the Mysterious Benedict Society and Spy School series.
A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series. (Adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781665982283
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
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
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