Dyer debuts with an amiable rags-to-riches tale featuring a foundling lad who makes unusual friends on the way to winkling out his past. Thanks to meanie Kenneth Harris, manager of the seedy seaside Grand Hotel, Toby labors hard for nothing but pajamas and a bed in the attic. Under the dock one day he meets the Flots, three friendly merfolk. When a gold ducal signet ring they give him from their hoard of sea-loot touches off a massive treasure hunt, Toby concocts a bold plan to save them from exposure by putting them into wheelchairs and installing them as guests at the Grand. Dyer stocks the cast with familiar types, all depicted with breezy assurance in Bailey’s frequent sketches, and takes the plot through a series of twists as Toby helps the Flots outmaneuver Harris, and his snaky son Nigel, before eventually expediting their escape aboard a cruise ship. By the end, Harris has been replaced, the ring turns out to be a crucial clue to Toby’s past (did you doubt?), and there’s a closing signal that the Flots haven’t entirely disappeared. Readers will enjoy meeting these clear-cut characters, all of whom get just what they deserve—or better. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-439-57975-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The poster boy for relentless mischief-makers everywhere, first encountered in No, David! (1998), gives his weary mother a rest by going to school. Naturally, he’s tardy, and that’s but the first in a long string of offenses—“Sit down, David! Keep your hands to yourself! PAY ATTENTION!”—that culminates in an afterschool stint. Children will, of course, recognize every line of the text and every one of David’s moves, and although he doesn’t exhibit the larger- than-life quality that made him a tall-tale anti-hero in his first appearance, his round-headed, gap-toothed enthusiasm is still endearing. For all his disruptive behavior, he shows not a trace of malice, and it’ll be easy for readers to want to encourage his further exploits. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-48087-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato.
The new kid in school endures becoming the school mascot.
Ben Hardy has never cared for potatoes, and this distaste has become a barrier to adjusting to life in his new Idaho town. His school’s mascot is the Spud, and after a series of misfortunes, Ben is enlisted to don the potato costume and cheer on his school’s team. Ben balances his duties as a life-sized potato against his desperate desire to hide the fact that he’s the dork in the suit. After all, his cute new crush, Jayla, wouldn’t be too impressed to discover Ben’s secret. The ensuing novel is a fairly boilerplate middle–grade narrative: snarky tween protagonist, the crush that isn’t quite what she seems, and a pair of best friends that have more going on than our hero initially believes. The author keeps the novel moving quickly, pushing forward with witty asides and narrative momentum so fast that readers won’t really mind that the plot’s spine is one they’ve encountered many times before. Once finished, readers will feel little resonance and move on to the next book in their to-read piles, but in the moment the novel is pleasant enough. Ben, Jayla, and Ben’s friend Hunter are white while Ellie, Ben’s other good pal, is Latina.
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11866-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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