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LEO GEO AND HIS MIRACULOUS JOURNEY THROUGH THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

“Science is no walk in the park,” he rightly proclaims. Also: “Long live geology!” (Graphic fiction/nonfiction hybrid. 7-10)

The top geologist at the Fizzmont Institute of Rad Science takes a solo journey right through the planet. It’s science! With monsters!

This unusually sized book—4 1/2 inches high by 13 inches long—contains appropriately long, skinny black-and-white scenes replete with finely inked detail and is designed to be turned 90 degrees and read vertically. Chad sends his intrepid explorer—depicted as a tiny, round-headed outline figure with rubbery limbs—down (and, for the second half, up, after a 180-degree turn) a continuous winding tunnel defined by masses of individually drawn boulders, bones and embedded artifacts. The text is delivered in comic-book–style dialogue, with balloons of hard science (“There are three common types of lava: basaltic, andesitic, and rhyolitic….”) interspersed with exclamations (“Crawling Curies, look at those bones!”). The nattering narrator not only encounters geological wonders, but complex mining works, teeming cities of sluglike “Subvisors,” all sorts of decidedly weird-looking giant creatures, including a “Quadclops” so huge that the journey necessarily takes an alimentary turn, and a host of toothy subterranean and aquatic attackers. Fellow travelers will understand why Leo breaks into tears when at last he emerges on a hill above Taipei.

“Science is no walk in the park,” he rightly proclaims. Also: “Long live geology!” (Graphic fiction/nonfiction hybrid. 7-10)

Pub Date: March 13, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-59643-661-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011

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RISE OF THE EARTH DRAGON

From the Dragon Masters series , Vol. 1

With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after.

Drake has been selected by the king to serve as a Dragon Master, quite a change for an 8-year-old farmer boy.

The dragons are a secret, and the reason King Roland has them is a mystery, but what is clear is that the Dragon Stone has identified Drake as one of the rare few children who have a special connection with dragons and the ability to serve as a trainer. Drake’s dragon is a long brown creature with, at first, no particular talents that Drake can identify. He calls the dragon Worm. It isn’t long before Drake begins to realize he has a very strong connection with Worm and can share what seem to be his dragon’s thoughts. After one of the other Dragon Masters decides to illicitly take the dragons outside, disaster strikes. The cave they are passing through collapses, blocking the passageway, and then Worm’s special talent becomes evident. The first of a new series of early chapter books, this entry is sure to attract fans. Brief chapters, large print, lots of action, attractive illustrations in every spread, including a maplike panorama, an enviable protagonist—who wouldn’t want to be a Dragon Master?—all combine to make an entertaining read.

With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after. (Fantasy. 7-10)

Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-545-64624-6

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Branches/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014

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THE MYSTERIOUS MESSENGER

An effort as insubstantial as any spirit.

Eleven-year-old Maria Russo helps her charlatan mother hoodwink customers, but Maria has a spirited secret.

Maria’s mother, the psychic Madame Destine, cons widows out of their valuables with the assistance of their apartment building’s super, Mr. Fox. Madame Destine home-schools Maria, and because Destine is afraid of unwanted attention, she forbids Maria from talking to others. Maria is allowed to go to the library, where new librarian Ms. Madigan takes an interest in Maria that may cause her trouble. Meanwhile, Sebastian, Maria’s new upstairs neighbor, would like to be friends. All this interaction makes it hard for Maria to keep her secret: that she is visited by Edward, a spirit who tells her the actual secrets of Madame Destine’s clients via spirit writing. When Edward urges Maria to help Mrs. Fisher, Madame Destine’s most recent mark, Maria must overcome her shyness and her fear of her mother—helping Mrs. Fisher may be the key to the mysterious past Maria uncovers and a brighter future. Alas, picture-book–creator Ford’s middle-grade debut is a muddled, melodramatic mystery with something of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink feel: In addition to the premise, there’s a tragically dead father, a mysterious family tree, and the Beat poets. Sluggish pacing; stilted, unrealistic dialogue; cartoonishly stock characters; and unattractive, flat illustrations make this one to miss. Maria and Sebastian are both depicted with brown skin, hers lighter than his; the other principals appear to be white.

An effort as insubstantial as any spirit. (author’s note) (Paranormal mystery. 7-10)

Pub Date: July 21, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-250-20567-4

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020

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