Another entertaining action-adventure installment, albeit one with a few too many plot strands.
In O’Neill’s (Wrath of the Caid, 2014, etc.) third volume of his YA Red Hand Adventures series, the Moroccan resistance prepares to battle a power-hungry warlord who’s allied himself with the French army.
Tough orphan Tariq has already helped Australian adventurer and hot air balloonist Melbourne Jack obtain the secret diary of Alexander the Great. Now Jack wants to return the favor and help Tariq and his friends plan their final showdown with the evil Caid Ali Tamzali, a warlord who won’t stop until he’s become the sultan of Morocco. The Caid has made a deal with the French Foreign Legion in order to take advantage of its superior numbers and weaponry. Jack tells Tariq the legend of the Red Hand Scrolls—powerful revelations that have only been secretly shared with a few trusted scholars. Deep in the jungle of Ceylon, someone evil is using the scrolls to plant seeds of conflict, which will grow into the biggest battle that the world has ever seen. Meanwhile, English preteen Margaret has discovered that her father, Col. Charles Owen, is being held in Marseilles as an accused pirate, and back in London, her mother, Louise, is risking everything to clear his name. O’Neill takes his usual mixture of high-stakes action, intricate historical detail and complex character back story and cranks it up an extra notch. But although the previous two books merely verged on overwhelming, this one definitely feels bloated. By the time the book relates the life stories of the mysterious Foster Crowe, who runs the circus that raised Jack; and Inez, Margaret’s French schoolmate, readers may be tired of meeting new people and ready to get on with the story. The long-awaited showdown between the resistance and the Caid’s forces manages to live up to lofty expectations. However, instead of ending on that note, O’Neill begins new storylines related to pre–World War I unrest. This feels somewhat anticlimactic after the big battle, but it may lead to an exciting, educational next book in the series.
Another entertaining action-adventure installment, albeit one with a few too many plot strands.Pub Date: April 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0985196981
Page Count: 372
Publisher: Black Ship Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A solid series starter for tinkerers and adventurers alike.
Even robot cats have a mind of their own.
All 12-year-old Canadian Lacey Chu’s ever wanted was to become a companioneer like her idol, Monica Chan, co-founder of the largest tech firm in North America, Moncha Corp., and mastermind behind the baku. Bakus, “robotic pets with all the features of a smartphone,” revolutionized society and how people interact with technology. As a companioneer, Lacey could work on bakus: designing, innovating, and building. When she receives a grant rejection from Profectus Academy of Science and Technology, a school that guarantees employment at Moncha Corp., she’s devastated. A happenstance salvaging of a mangled cat baku might just change the game. Suddenly, Lacey’s got an in with Profectus and is one step closer to her dream. Jinx, however, is not quite like the other bakus—he’s a wild cat that does things without commands. Together with Jinx, Lacey will have to navigate competitive classmates and unsettling corporate secrets. McCulloch effectively strikes a balance between worldbuilding and action. High-stakes baku battles demonstrate the emotional bond between (robotic) pet and owner. Readers will also connect to the relationships the Asian girl forges with her diverse classmates, including a rivalry with Carter (a white boy who’s the son of Moncha’s other co-founder, Eric Smith), a burgeoning crush on student Tobias, who’s black, and evolving friendships new and old. While some mysteries are solved, a cliffhanger ending raises even more for the next installment.
A solid series starter for tinkerers and adventurers alike. (Science fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8374-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face.
Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leaf…or a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp.
As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean… / … I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man.
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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