For fans of world-hopping adventure flavored with mythology, magic, and pretty wings on characters.
A spinoff of the Pegasus series starring plucky young heroes trying to save the world of Titus from an existential threat.
Titan Astraea and best friend Zephyr, her winged equine (she is not a “horse”!), are starting at a new, integrated school for both Titans and Olympians, established to help ease tensions between the two peoples now that they share one world. A conflict with an Olympian student lands them in detention right away, where they discover a forbidden human boy, Jake. Jake’s not the first human to mysteriously appear on Titus lately, and so they, along with silver-skinned Tryn, a fellow new student who is half human, half Rhean, keep Jake concealed while trying to find his missing sister and to discover who is bringing humans to Titus. Their investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with highly dangerous invaders already infiltrating the highest levels of society. The writing is simplistic and easy to follow, though the story rhythm is disrupted by repetitions and reminders of plot points that pad out the page count. While characters from O’Hearn’s Pegasus series are mentioned many times and appear briefly, saving the day this time is up to a new crop of heroes who must learn to work together. In a sharp pace change, the sequel-prompting climax (after the 400-page mark) is rushed. Both blond, Astraea and Jake present white.
For fans of world-hopping adventure flavored with mythology, magic, and pretty wings on characters. (Fantasy. 8-13)Pub Date: July 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1704-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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
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