Fans will be delighted by these further misadventures of the rumpled but loving—and lovable—Cornwallis clan.
Impulsive acts, severely tested friendships, and possible witchy curses—all set against the customary backdrop of domestic chaos—presage big changes for Binny and her family.
The wad of cash that Binny spots in an ATM seems at first like a wish come true, considering that her mother’s birthday is coming up and surely the bill for contractor Pete’s repairs to their storm-wracked cottage (Binny in Secret, 2015) will soon be coming due. Unfortunately, joy soon gives way to gnawing guilt—but by the time she resolves to return the money, it’s nowhere to be found. Along with wrecking both house and (temporarily) a friendship with frantic searches and queries, Binny becomes increasingly convinced that eerily attentive neighbor Miss Piper is both a witch and the cause of her misfortunes. All the while little brother James and big sister Clem are suffering through crises of their own, and there is something going on between their widowed mother and Pete. Then there’s Binny’s erstwhile adversary, Gareth, in for a visit and to deliver the tale’s best line: “at school I tell people you’re my girlfriend. Stops them from asking if I’m gay. Do you mind?” With her usual skill and superb comic timing the author brings her all-white cast’s brangles to happy, even joyous resolutions. Ross’ scribbly grayscale illustrations add suitably frantic notes.
Fans will be delighted by these further misadventures of the rumpled but loving—and lovable—Cornwallis clan. (Fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: June 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9102-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
A talky ending leaves a forgiveable blemish on this semisatirical debut tale of a young foundling learning to harness a real superpower while setting out to uncover his obscure past. Years of poring over a stash of tattered comics left at the door of his New Jersey orphanage at least partially ease Jack’s adjustment when he’s suddenly attacked by a heavily armed warrior robot and then hustled off to the Imagine Nation—a floating island entirely populated by superheroes and reachable only by Those Who Believe. Though the Nation is rapidly turning into a police state thanks to a (pointedly familiar) climate of media-fostered fear in the wake of an attempted invasion by the alien race of robo-zombie Rüstov, Jack does gather enough support both to survive the public revelation that his own bloodstream is crawling with Rüstov nanobots and, thanks to his burgeoning ability to understand and make friends with machines, to steel himself for a second battle with the aforementioned metal warrior. Though Myklusch prefers diatribes and explanations to exploring the ins and outs of this comic-book world, he creates a beguiling, sequel-worthy scenario. (Fantasy. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4169-9561-6
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
Readers will really feel blasts of wind, water and flying debris in this disaster tale—at least until the narrative cuts off in mid-howl. As (fictional) Hurricane Emily moves toward Florida and his father, an itinerant contractor specializing in weather-disaster prep and repairs, heads for its expected landfall, Chase takes up temporary residence at a “farm” that turns out to be a circus’ winter quarters. Hardly has he reported to the local school, though, than the storm makes a sudden turn and surge that strands him, along with classmates Nicole and Rashawn, in a wrecked bus on a crumbling levee. Writing in clipped prose and dialogue, Smith quickly plunges the three refugees into a desperate struggle to survive floods, darkness, howling gales and even an encounter with a wily alligator on the way to what they hope will be safety. Though the author’s practice of repeatedly cutting away to other characters’ points of view distracts from rather than tightens the suspense, and he abruptly chops off the narrative on a cliffhanger as the storm’s eye passes, Chase and his friends get repeated opportunities to show that they’re made of sturdy stuff. Since they are left sharing a barn with an elephant who is about to give birth as a vicious escaped leopard roams outside, readers are really going to want to find out what happens next. (Adventure. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-545-08175-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
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