Still, humorous dialogue and harrowing escapes will keep action-oriented readers mostly entertained. (Supernatural action....
Wisecracks, gadgets and fast-paced action sequences abound in the second book about Alex Van Helsing, a 14-year-old boy with a supernatural gift for sensing evil.
The evil, in this case, is old-fashioned malevolent vampires, headquartered in the Scholomance, “a school and a research facility and a massive organization all rolled into one,” hidden under Lake Geneva. Nearby are Alex's all-boys' boarding school, Glenarvon Academy, and a central office of the Polidorium, an international vampire-fighting agency with which Alex is slowly becoming involved. Action is the main focus here, and Alex's two vampire nemeses pose constant threats. Elle, who menaced Alex and his friends in book one, toys with Alex with the elaborateness (and propensity for being foiled at the last minute) of a Bond villain. Ultravox, the new bad guy, is subtler: His genuinely unsettling powers of persuasion can convince humans to attack others or to harm themselves. Astute readers will figure out the vampires' secret M.O. and notice traps before Alex does, and a few references, like a Polidorium agent's horror that Alex hasn't heard of New Wave music, seem thrown in for adults.
Still, humorous dialogue and harrowing escapes will keep action-oriented readers mostly entertained. (Supernatural action. 12-14)Pub Date: July 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-195101-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
Not much forward momentum but a tasty array of chills, thrills, and chortles.
The victory of Jacob and his fellow peculiars over the previous episode’s wights and hollowgasts turns out to be only one move in a larger game as Riggs (Tales of the Peculiar, 2016, etc.) shifts the scene to America.
Reading largely as a setup for a new (if not exactly original) story arc, the tale commences just after Jacob’s timely rescue from his decidedly hostile parents. Following aimless visits back to newly liberated Devil’s Acre and perfunctory normalling lessons for his magically talented friends, Jacob eventually sets out on a road trip to find and recruit Noor, a powerful but imperiled young peculiar of Asian Indian ancestry. Along the way he encounters a semilawless patchwork of peculiar gangs, syndicates, and isolated small communities—many at loggerheads, some in the midst of negotiating a tentative alliance with the Ymbryne Council, but all threatened by the shadowy Organization. The by-now-tangled skein of rivalries, romantic troubles, and family issues continues to ravel amid bursts of savage violence and low comedy (“I had never seen an invisible person throw up before,” Jacob writes, “and it was something I won’t soon forget”). A fresh set of found snapshots serves, as before, to add an eldritch atmosphere to each set of incidents. The cast defaults to white but includes several people of color with active roles.
Not much forward momentum but a tasty array of chills, thrills, and chortles. (Horror/Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7352-3214-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Just when you think every possible teen affliction has been covered in young adult literature, along comes Howse’s debut novel about the perils of acne. Severe acne can be painful and embarrassing to any teen, but the situation is especially calamitous for 13-year-old TV-commercial actress Olivia Hughes. She’s finally started her period, and her face begins to erupt at the worst possible time. She's just sealed the deal on a national advertising campaign to be the next Wacky Water Girl, and J.W., the hottest eighth-grader, has finally noticed her. Her dermatologist suggests reducing stress, but that's not likely. Her agent is pushy, her workaholic dad has relocated after her parents’ divorce, her regretful mother tries to relive missed opportunities through Olivia’s acting and Olivia has regular tiffs with her once-best friends. At first blaming the acne on a spider bite and then allergic reactions, Olivia must not only learn to admit that she has acne but that her career could be over forever. J.W.’s freshman cousin, Theo, who has rheumatoid arthritis, helps her find perspective and self-acceptance. While descriptions of Olivia’s various treatment methods lean toward didactic rather than enlightening, her melodramatic first-person narration sums up the transition from preteen to teen and the onset of puberty. Light reading before moving on to the snark and thongs of Louise Rennison’s Georgia Nicholson books. (author’s note) (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5830-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
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