A science book with just enough story to it.
Anthony Briggs has many reasons to hate pigeons, including the fact that the class bully has been calling him Pidge for years, but when studying them could earn him an overnight at the natural history museum, he learns to appreciate the creatures.
Anthony, a black New Yorker, dinosaur enthusiast, fantasy comic-book creator, and leg brace–wearing kid with Blount’s disease, wavers over whether or not to join the Science Squad but decides that even though it means studying “garbage-eating rat-birds,” he wants the museum overnight badly enough to do it. His friend Jasmine joins, but so does Jasmine’s other friend, Ivy, and the class bully, TJ, who never misses an opportunity to pick on Anthony. When everyone partners up to collect data in pairs, guess whom Anthony is left to work with? It’s not all bad though. After some difficult moments, Anthony learns not to shrink when ridiculed, and he learns that sometimes people lash out because they’re upset over something else. Anthony works hard to earn the Science Squad badges, and he becomes protective of a pigeon with a bum leg who reminds him of his own vulnerability. Anthony is a likable character who name-checks familiar books in his chatty narrative, and his classmates are a mirror of New York’s diversity. However, the journal conceit is a thinly veiled attempt to dump science information into readers, so the book will succeed best with true science enthusiasts.
A science book with just enough story to it. (note on urban bird-watching, glossary, bibliography) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63163-188-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Jolly Fish Press
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Affecting and hopeful.
A stray dog finds her destiny amid the chaos of a Southern California wildfire.
Wombat is a small dog with stubby legs and “silly ears / that look like furry cookies”—almost impossibly cute in Bricking’s occasional pencil-style vignettes. She’s mastered the art of survival, so when a mysterious internal voice prods her to go toward the fire, she resists. “The wrong way is the right way. / The right way is the wrong way,” the voice insists. When she tells fellow stray Silas about it, he tells Wombat she’s a “destiny dog,” bound to “find their person / before their person / can find them.” Convinced, she decides to follow the mysterious instructions. Meanwhile, Henry, a boy who’s leery of dogs, loves the bats at the wildlife rehabilitation center where Mama Ro, a veterinarian, works; his Mama J is a librarian. Henry and Barnabas, a fruit bat at the center, are both uprooted by the fire, and their paths converge with Wombat’s at an emergency shelter. The third-person perspective shifts from character to character in clusters of free-verse poems that fully immerse readers in each one’s experiences in turn. This extra-concentrated delivery of Applegate’s typically spare writing proves effective, balancing terror and sadness with heart and humor. Henry has light brown skin, Mama Ro has curly black hair and brown skin, and Mama J presents white.
Affecting and hopeful. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780063221178
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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