A survival story so vivid readers will want to don a warm jacket and have a comforting bowl of soup within reach.
Lawrence tells the gut-wrenching tale of Englishman Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated trek to the South Pole in the first-pony voice of a white pony named James Pigg who was actually part of the expedition.
An unnamed narrator’s lively, context-providing segments precede each chapter and dramatically set the stage for the rivalry between Scott and Norwegian Roald Amundsen: “The year is 1910, and a great adventure is beginning. It will take two years to finish and will end in a desperate race across the bottom of the world, with a dead man being the winner.” Captain Scott decides to bring dogs as well as 20 light-colored ponies—light only because Shackleton’s dark-colored ones all died. James Pigg wasn’t always James Pigg—he was a Manchurian pony roaming free until he was captured, and broken, by men. Along with the compassionate and affable James Pigg’s unflinching chronicle of Scott’s journey and its accompanying horrors from frostbite to death, his equine perspective allows an insightful exploration of the relationships of men to dogs and ponies alike, revealing both cruelty and extraordinary kindness, even love. The author’s note, in which Lawrence describes his childhood hero-worship of Scott and his initial attraction to James Pigg’s story is as fascinating as the rest.
A survival story so vivid readers will want to don a warm jacket and have a comforting bowl of soup within reach. (map of explorers’ routes, cast of characters, author’s note, acknowledgments, about the author) (Historical fiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-385-73377-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Full of puzzles to think about, puns to groan at and references to children’s book titles, this solid, tightly plotted read...
When a lock-in becomes a reality game, 12-year-old Kyle Keeley and his friends use library resources to find their way out of Alexandriaville’s new public library.
The author of numerous mysteries for children and adults turns his hand to a puzzle adventure with great success. Starting with the premise that billionaire game-maker Luigi Lemoncello has donated a fortune to building a library in a town that went without for 12 years, Grabenstein cleverly uses the tools of board and video games—hints and tricks and escape hatches—to enhance this intricate and suspenseful story. Twelve 12-year-old winners of an essay contest get to be the first to see the new facility and, as a bonus, to play his new escape game. Lemoncello’s gratitude to the library of his childhood extends to providing a helpful holographic image of his 1968 librarian, but his modern version also includes changing video screens, touch-screen computers in the reading desks and an Electronic Learning Center as well as floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stretching up three stories. Although the characters, from gamer Kyle to schemer Charles Chiltington, are lightly developed, the benefits of pooling strengths to work together are clear.
Full of puzzles to think about, puns to groan at and references to children’s book titles, this solid, tightly plotted read is a winner for readers and game-players alike. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-87089-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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