A dreamy, magical adventure harking back to the stories of an earlier era.
A young girl and her pixielike friends find danger and idyll in this sequel.
Suzy, nearly 13 years old, lives with her Nan and Grandad in Capel-le Ferne, a village perched atop the White Cliffs of Dover. Suzy is friends with the Paxteys, winged fairylike beings who inhabit a nearby cliffside warren and take care of the natural world. Sometimes Paxteys and humans can form a special bond—a symbiosis of sorts—and can hear one another’s thoughts. This has happened with Suzy and the Paxtey Scratch, her special friend, who is still recovering from the tribulations of Ralph’s previous volume, Voices in the Mist (2013). In that story, the loathsome Ogystone captured lots of Paxteys and held them prisoner. Thanks to Suzy and Scratch, those Paxteys were rescued. Ogystone was thought to have “puffed out” (died), but he is back. He has taken over the body of an osprey, mutating it beyond recognition and corrupting several nests of young ospreys to act as his henchmen. Ogystone’s one driving thought is to take vengeance on the Paxteys. Can Suzy, Scratch, and the others defeat him again? This middle-grade book is very much a continuation, and though the author writes with new readers in mind, there are still some elements (Little House, for instance) that pass wholly without account, leading to a measure of disorientation. Suzy is a throwback character, evoking the bygone days of early- to mid-20th-century children’s fiction, including tales by E. Nesbit and Enid Blyton. Suzy is innocent and loving and rather saccharine in her interactions. She is often overcome with emotion. While her lack of foibles may not be to everyone’s taste, one consequence of her sweet disposition is that the story takes on even more of a wistful, halcyon feel. The Paxteys are delightful creatures. Ogystone is the very essence of a frightful villain. The dialogue is slightly stylized—again, evincing the formality of yesteryear. The plot, though simple in both execution and resolution, moves along nicely and will keep young readers beguiled. The book contains a handful of black-and-white pencil drawings by Macklin that sufficiently depict the main Paxtey characters.
A dreamy, magical adventure harking back to the stories of an earlier era.Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-72839-211-0
Page Count: 170
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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