A 13-year-old klutz earns entry to an airborne Academy for young superheroes, and proves her mettle when students and faculty from a rival institution attack the school for supervillains. Sound familiar? It should; the 2005 film Sky High shares the same premise, and Zoom, a 2006 Tim Allen vehicle currently in production, was adapted from Lethcoe’s comic book, which he improves upon here with some clever touches. The heroes all wear self-designed outfits (illustrated in the author’s occasional small pencil drawings), bear evocative names like “Beetlebomb” (good, though gross—he can blow himself up), or “Lucifina” (evil), and while taking classes in fighting dirty and creating melodramatic music, the villains-in-training wonder why it is that Good usually prevails. Young Summer, the low-self-esteem protagonist, turns out to have the vanishingly rare ability to enhance the superpowers of others and by saving Zoom’s Academy for the Super Gifted, she earns the ultimate reward: a comic of her own. Not exactly groundbreaking, but above average as media tie-ins go. (Fantasy. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2005
ISBN: 0-345-48355-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this tongue-in-cheek quest tale, Hirsch (Antonio S and the Mystery of Theodore Guzman, 2001) suggests that imperious Queens and intrepid Explorers both might have a thing or two to learn. Having tasted everything else delicious in her multiple kingdoms save the fabled melidrop fruit, a young Queen dispatches scruffy but resourceful Bartlett and his oversized companion Jacques Le Grand to fetch one. At first, Bartlett doesn’t think it’s going to be much of an adventure, but challenges await—not least the twin facts that the nearest melidrops are months away by sea, and that they rot a day after being picked—that will test every ounce of his Invention, Desperation, and Perseverance. As a flash of inspiration sends Bartlett on a side trip in search of an iceberg small enough to tow but big enough not to melt, back in the palace the Queen’s impatience reaches fever pitch—but, as she eventually comes to realize, there are some things that royal desires, royal demands, even royal tantrums, just can’t hurry along. In the end, she gets her melidrop (the iceberg turns out to be just big enough), Bartlett proclaims his adventure a satisfying one, and both (along with readers) come away a bit wiser. Small, delicately detailed illustrations reflect the episode’s light tone. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-58234-797-2
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A quick skim of the subject—readable, but unsystematic and not well served by either the art or the dusty closing...
Countering the notion that our language just sprang into existence from nowhere, a respected storyteller offers quick notes on the Classical backgrounds behind several dozen words or expressions in common use.
Arranging her 17 main choices alphabetically from “Achilles Heel” to “Victory,” Lunge-Larsen supplies for each a use-quote, retells or paraphrases a Greek or Roman myth that explains the term’s usage then closes with quick references to several related gods or other figures whose names are still embedded in English. While “Pandora’s Box” and some other entries feature fully developed tales, others do not. The story of Achilles (whose role and death in the Trojan War are encompassed in one sentence about how, after the “Battle of Troy [sic] broke out … one fateful arrow pierced his heel”) and others are sketchy at best. Adding occasional dialogue balloons graphic-novelist, Hinds presents expertly drawn but similarly sketchy watercolor scenes of fully-clothed or discreetly posed mortals and immortals on nearly every page. While pulling modern use-quotes from current literature for kids has the potential to spice up the presentation, some works are relatively obscure (River Boy, by Tim Bowler) or above the natural audience for this text (The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney).
A quick skim of the subject—readable, but unsystematic and not well served by either the art or the dusty closing bibliography. (Nonfiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-15229-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
