Enjoyably mysterious.
There’s something strange about Mellie’s foundling cat…is Bert a zombie?!
Nine-year-old Mellie has no interest in being a part of her parents’ food-and-family blog. Her mother and father (a former freelance writer and former chef, respectively) are so busy with the blog and her twin younger brothers that she’s pretty free-range. She spends a lot of her time helping her best friend, Danny, make horror movies. When the two of them discover a disheveled cat in a dumpster, Mellie feels drawn to the sickly feline; she sneaks him home, names him Bert, and doesn’t tell her parents. Meanwhile the Big Boss of a local lab is not pleased that two of his workers have allowed test subject Y-91 to escape, and he orders them to find it. Bert isn’t interested in cat food or even salmon, but he brings Mellie headless animal corpses…could he be a zombie eating only the animals’ brains?! When Bert’s accused of hurting the school bully’s pet rats (and thus brought to the attention of Mellie’s parents), she may not be able to keep him. This slim series opener feels like the start of a novel more than a whole book, as so much is left unresolved at the close. The parallel stories of Mellie’s discovery of Bert, the search for Y-91, and Bert, as he pursues a mission of his own, will keep young fans of the slightly spooky turning pages…and eager for the next installment. In Andrews’ illustrations, Mellie and her mom have dark skin while her dad and the twins have light skin.
Enjoyably mysterious. (Science fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: July 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0106-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
Two cute animals teaming up means double the fun in this romping adventure.
An unlikely animal friendship blooms when lost youngsters help each other out.
Oliver—Ollie to his buddies—is a curious sea otter who loves swimming and frolicking in the waters near Washington state’s Puget Sound. Teased by his playmates for being too cautious, Ollie takes a big risk that ends in disaster when he is separated from his mom during an oil spill. Dachshund puppy Franklin is similarly curious; he runs away from his owner, Lucy, when a squirrel catches his eye. Lucy is desperate to find Franklin but is torn between helping her mom, who works at a marine lab, with the oil spill cleanup efforts and searching for her beloved dog. Meanwhile, Lucy’s mom and older brother have had a falling out, and Lucy is anxious for them to forgive one another and for her family to heal. Ollie and Franklin meet on the beach and begin the adventure of a lifetime as they team up to find their ways back home. Readers will delight in the otter and puppy antics that unfold. Information about otter behavior and abilities is woven into the storyline along with descriptions of the environmental impact of oil spills. Chapters alternate between Lucy’s, Franklin’s, and Ollie’s perspectives, keeping the story moving forward at a fast clip. Lucy and her family are presumed White.
Two cute animals teaming up means double the fun in this romping adventure. (Adventure. 7-10)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-74149-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Plenty of silly hijinks to keep the pages turning; readers will find this a gas.
After all the kittens in the world are abducted, it’s domesticated animal superheroes to the rescue!
Reluctantly recruited into the eXpets after driving two would-be burglars into nauseated submission with superpowered blasts of doggy gas from both ends, peaceable Bosco finds himself renamed Stanky Dog. Soon, he’s headed on a rescue mission to the moon with tiny but fierce Ginormous Gerbil, Wonder Guppy, and like stars of the S&SCU, or Simon & Schuster Comics Universe (not to be confused with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, if you please). With the innuendo extending even into chapter heads (“Doggie Don’t or Doggie Do?”), Tatulli’s loudly hued panes fill up with frenetic action and rapid-fire repartee as the heroes struggle to prevent archnemesis the Skunk and his tentacled minion, Captain Calamari, from digging up the ancient Collar of Power that would force all humans to become pets and vice versa. Can the furry fighters save the day—not to mention an ocean of wide-eyed, intensely cute kitties who were kidnapped to do lunar excavation? (“It’s actually a giant ball of kitty litter! And who knows more about digging through kitty litter than—kitties?”) Cue the slogan—“eXpets exceed expectations!”—on the way to a triumphant finish featuring a round of parties and parades back on Earth, plus a twist or two to set up future episodes.
Plenty of silly hijinks to keep the pages turning; readers will find this a gas. (Graphic adventure. 7-10)Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781665914871
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
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.
