A novel that will have readers reflecting on their own experiences of grief, longing, regret, survival, and overcoming.
In the companion to A Crack in the Sea (2017), Bouwman offers stories of loss, hope, perseverance, and the repercussions of severed platonic and familial bonds.
In the book’s present day of 1949 in the “second world,” 12-year-old Putnam, son of the king of Raftworld, is impatient with his father’s refusal to take action to correct the mysterious salinization of their water, so he leaves home to do it himself. Meanwhile, Islander Artie, also 12, flees an abusive home that’s become even worse since her mother’s death. They do not intend to journey together, but a twist of fate finds them both stealing the same boat. In a separate storyline, a century earlier, 14-year-old Rayel, daughter of the then-king of Raftworld, runs away to escape an arranged marriage. These flights lead to unexpected happenings: Putnam and Artie’s friendship and Rayel’s discovery of magic within herself and unlikely friends. They also bring great trials, from physical privation to the looming feelings that nefarious presences watch and follow. Though their voyages begin at different times, all three unknowingly take the same route toward the cold southern part of their world and are eventually connected, leading to truths and revelations. Bouwman masterfully infuses old fairy tales and legends into her alternate-universe adventure, meticulously weaving times and storylines into a riveting plot. All three protagonists have brown skin. Shimizu’s energetic black-and-white illustrations add visual drama.
A novel that will have readers reflecting on their own experiences of grief, longing, regret, survival, and overcoming. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-54522-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Fast-paced dragon flights and mid-space fights—plus underdog heroes who are easy to root for.
A tenacious 13-year-old battles to save Mars, the only home he knows, in this series opener.
Lunar Jones, called “Dad” by the other orphans at the understaffed, underfunded Martian Relocation Clinic, is a scrapper in the dying Mars settlement, which is ironically named Harvest. Although the atmosphere supports human life, Martian plants, animals, and weather pose threats to survival, and the salvagers risk their lives with every expedition. A century ago, people killed Ares, Mars’ King-Dragon, hoping to make the planet “a paradise. A second version of Earth.” But that plan backfired. After a bloody attack by a rival salvage group, Lunar regains consciousness in an underground bunker, under the care of Gen. John Poppy, who’s secretly rearing a dragon named Dread. Poppy has rallied a group of young people with assorted special skills. Soon Dread will choose his dragoon, the human he bonds with for life. In the world of the story, which is reminiscent of Mad Max and Star Trek, each celestial body has its own dragon avatar. The backstory is fairly well developed, and the short chapters are packed with action. Lunar and some other key characters show positive growth, while the minor characters feel more like types. Lunar presents white; there’s some diversity in race among the supporting cast.
Fast-paced dragon flights and mid-space fights—plus underdog heroes who are easy to root for. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665946513
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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