Still, it’s not the worst luck to pick this up; there are some nice moments, humor, and a satisfying ending.
Can bad luck ever be a good thing?
You wouldn’t think so if you lived in Fortune Falls—and were among its Unluckies. Technically Sadie is still an Undetermined, not yet having taken her Luck Test, required of kids when they turn 12. She knows she’s doomed to fail, though. Rotten luck follows her like a sad puppy. When Sadie and best friend Cooper attempt to reverse her misfortunes, she ends up breaking a mirror. Somehow this lousiest of omens sparks something fierce deep in Sadie’s soul, prompting her to try anything to overcome her seemingly hapless destiny. Will she or won’t she succeed? A few harrowing episodes, including graveyard escapades, a lost dog, skeletal remains, and a near-calamity facing down an oncoming train, help Sadie and readers realize she’s not all that unlucky. This girl’s got gumption. An ironic twist with a touch of magical realism runs through the second half of the novel, involving a certain animal that turns out to be an agent for change. Readers will root for Sadie and wish her the best even if they don’t buy into all the doom and gloom (there’s a lot of discussion of death). It’s a good premise, but a few disparate themes don’t particularly jell, and Goebel’s intentions aren’t always clear.
Still, it’s not the worst luck to pick this up; there are some nice moments, humor, and a satisfying ending. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-81190-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2015
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride.
A new virtual-reality theme park goes haywire on a crowd of young victims, er, visitors in Alexander’s latest screamfest.
Having scored one of just 100 coveted preview tickets to a cutting-edge, kids-only venue dubbed ESCAPE, budding amusement park fan and designer Cody Baxter is looking forward to a life-changing experience. What he gets is more of a life-threatening one, as games and rides with names like Triassic Terror and Haunted Hillside not only pit him against a monster and then zombies—or sometimes a monster and zombies—as well as ruthless competing players, but seem tailored to play on individual personal terrors. And, in some never explained way, the VR quickly turns into real battles that inflict real wounds even as the real settings shift with sudden, dizzying unpredictability. Teaming up with loyal new friends Jayson Torn and Inga Andersdottir, the former described as being Japanese and White and the latter as Norwegian, Cody (who seems to default to White) struggles for survival, learning ultimately that ESCAPE was created by an evil genius with an ulterior motive who is convinced that he can teach children a salutary lesson. The plot’s no more logical in its twists and contrivances than the premise, but the author’s knack for spinning out nightmarish situations is definitely on display here as the tale careens toward a properly lurid outcome.
Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride. (Light horror. 9-12)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-26047-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
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