by Jessica Day George ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019
A tedious, confusing setup for Book 3. Disappointing.
The second book in the Rose Legacy series presents new challenges for human Anthea and stallion Florian (and readers too).
Anthea, her uncle Andrew, cousin Jilly, and others at Last Farm are now—along with their horses (with whom they communicate telepathically)—working for the Crown of Coronam as messengers. It’s part of a campaign by Queen Josephine to get the rest of the kingdom (king included) past the idea, rooted in legend, that horses brought a terrible plague to Coronam ages ago and so are to be feared and exterminated. Suffering terribly from middle-book syndrome, this story throws out bits of plot, eschewing character development, congruity, and even, at times, plausibility. The one comprehensible thread is that there’s a contagious disease spreading around the countryside, and people are beginning to blame the horses again. An all-woman team of scientists arrives at Last Farm to work on finding a cure. (Despite this gesture, gender stereotypes persist: Jilly is tediously interested in form-fitted clothes, and Anthea sees tears as a weakness.) There are twinges of war rumors with a not-nice country called Kronenhofer, some unsubtle nudges regarding Anthea’s traitor of a mother, and a plodding subplot about how Anthea’s friend Finn is the rightful king. Settings are numerous and interchangeable (as are most of the characters), and the saccharine “Beloved”-bestrewn telepathic addresses between Anthea and Florian have definitely reached the eye-roll stage.
A tedious, confusing setup for Book 3. Disappointing. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0089-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 15, 2013
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride.
Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.
The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
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by Ginny Rorby ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2015
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.
Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?
Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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