by Joel Matus ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1993
Leroy can't play baseball and has trouble confronting bullies, but he discovers he has the right stuff after all when he meets some German spies and a ``Neanderthal man.'' Four boys are harassing Leroy after his sixth-grade team loses because he strikes out. They push him into an off-limits canyon where he meets ``Ooma''—who seems to be a Neanderthal man called into 1942 by a time machine—wandering alone after an auto accident. Leroy tells the other boys; unfortunately, they believe him, find Ooma, and trump up a story that brings out a search by policemen and soldiers. Aided by friends, Leroy makes a mad dash into the canyon to save Ooma from capture or death. In the ensuing chase, spies who are hiding in the woods are discovered and captured, and Ooma's true story is disclosed. The improbable events of this engrossing plot end with an O. Henry-like twist. Matus depicts wartime California with precision—polio, blackouts, radio shows, and a child's innocent fear/pleasure in air raids and bomber sightings. With well-drawn characters and a humorous spirit akin to Barbara Park's, a creditable first novel. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: April 30, 1993
ISBN: 0-689-31812-X
Page Count: 134
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
Share your opinion of this book
by Andrew Clements & illustrated by Brian Selznick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1996
With comically realistic black-and-white illustrations by Selznick (The Robot King, 1995, etc.), this is a captivating...
Nicholas is a bright boy who likes to make trouble at school, creatively.
When he decides to torment his fifth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Granger (who is just as smart as he is), by getting everyone in the class to replace the word "pen'' with "frindle,'' he unleashes a series of events that rapidly spins out of control. If there's any justice in the world, Clements (Temple Cat, 1995, etc.) may have something of a classic on his hands. By turns amusing and adroit, this first novel is also utterly satisfying. The chess-like sparring between the gifted Nicholas and his crafty teacher is enthralling, while Mrs. Granger is that rarest of the breed: a teacher the children fear and complain about for the school year, and love and respect forever after.
With comically realistic black-and-white illustrations by Selznick (The Robot King, 1995, etc.), this is a captivating tale—one to press upon children, and one they'll be passing among themselves. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-689-80669-8
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1996
Share your opinion of this book
More by Andrew Clements
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Andrew Clements & illustrated by Mark Elliott
by Neil Gaiman ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2002
Not for the faint-hearted—who are mostly adults anyway—but for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister:...
A magnificently creepy fantasy pits a bright, bored little girl against a soul-eating horror that inhabits the reality right next door.
Coraline’s parents are loving, but really too busy to play with her, so she amuses herself by exploring her family’s new flat. A drawing-room door that opens onto a brick wall becomes a natural magnet for the curious little girl, and she is only half-surprised when, one day, the door opens onto a hallway and Coraline finds herself in a skewed mirror of her own flat, complete with skewed, button-eyed versions of her own parents. This is Gaiman’s (American Gods, 2001, etc.) first novel for children, and the author of the Sandman graphic novels here shows a sure sense of a child’s fears—and the child’s ability to overcome those fears. “I will be brave,” thinks Coraline. “No, I am brave.” When Coraline realizes that her other mother has not only stolen her real parents but has also stolen the souls of other children before her, she resolves to free her parents and to find the lost souls by matching her wits against the not-mother. The narrative hews closely to a child’s-eye perspective: Coraline never really tries to understand what has happened or to fathom the nature of the other mother; she simply focuses on getting her parents back and thwarting the other mother for good. Her ability to accept and cope with the surreality of the other flat springs from the child’s ability to accept, without question, the eccentricity and arbitrariness of her own—and every child’s own—reality. As Coraline’s quest picks up its pace, the parallel world she finds herself trapped in grows ever more monstrous, generating some deliciously eerie descriptive writing.
Not for the faint-hearted—who are mostly adults anyway—but for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister: Coraline is spot on. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-380-97778-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2002
Share your opinion of this book
More by Neil Gaiman
BOOK REVIEW
by Neil Gaiman ; illustrated by Various
BOOK REVIEW
by Neil Gaiman ; illustrated by Chris Riddell
BOOK REVIEW
by Neil Gaiman ; illustrated by Divya Srinivasan
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
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.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.