Nail-bitingly suspenseful and refreshingly witty.
Accidentally slipping into a parallel world, 12-year-old Oscar from Sydney, Australia, finds himself involved in an elaborate quest to save a town of Elves.
One Monday morning at the skate park, Oscar Banetti gazes into a mirror and finds himself transported to another skate park where a giant silver wave is speeding toward him. That same day, 13-year-old Imogen Mettlestone-Staranise, her two sisters, a cousin, and another boy are summoned to the Elven city that is buried beneath a blanket of silver. Witches have placed all the Elves under a sleeping spell. Imogen and the children also witness Oscar apparently being killed by the silver wave. In fact, Oscar’s not dead—though he’s now stranded in this magical world until the Elves are freed. In order for this to happen, the six young people must become questers, deciphering enigmatic clues to find nine pieces of a key held by different key keepers, unlock a spell, and set the Elven city free within five days—or the Elves will die. Organized by the advancing days of the week to heighten the tension, the complex, fast-paced plot unfolds in Oscar’s and Imogen’s droll, alternating voices. On this endlessly surprising, often precarious, sometimes frustrating, and seemingly doomed quest, the children encounter magical creatures, including a Genie, Radish Gnomes, Crystal Faeries, and Water Sprites as their “tricky, tricksy trip” becomes a true journey of self-discovery. Oscar has Italian, Scottish, and Chilean heritage; Imogen reads White.
Nail-bitingly suspenseful and refreshingly witty. (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64614-202-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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
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