An archaeological adventure with almost too much suspense.
Off on another expedition with her archaeologist Uncle Jay, 12-year-old Samantha Sutton is caught up in a plot to ruin his career.
Unless her uncle’s excavations turn up valuable historic relics under Wardy Hill, its owner, Sir Cairn Catesby, plans to build a Roman-style theme park there, where locals believe legendary warrior-queen Boudicca lived and died, outside present-day Cambridge, England. As in series opener Samantha Sutton and the Labyrinth of Lies (2012), the archaeologist-author describes field research in loving detail, contrasting the careful work of scientists with the depredations of treasure hunters with metal detectors. But his depictions of the archaeological community, including Sir Cairn (a professor of archaeology at Cambridge) and Samantha’s own family, are far less positive. Her unreliable uncle makes enemies everywhere. They’re willing to sabotage his work and even threaten his niece and nephew. The suspense begins with an opening prologue: Samantha’s last desperate escape through a snowy night. As the events of the story unfold, there are peaceful moments—evensong at Kings College Chapel, rowing on the Cam in the early mornings, sharing the view from the chapel tower with new friend Graham Aubrey—as well as an increasing sense of danger. An enemy made in a previous story turns up again, and Samantha begins, not unreasonably, to fear for her life.
An archaeological adventure with almost too much suspense. (Adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7563-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.
In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you’ve ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school–aged refugees—Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo—eventually intertwine for maximum impact.
Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: “See us….Hear us. Help us.” With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-88083-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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