Though plainly crafted to spark and model book discussions, the tale is generously infused with animating elements of...
Fresh from their experiences with Quasimodo in the series opener (Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame, 2012), three young people again use an elusive inventor’s magic, painted circle to bring a literary character to life.
Choosing to call up Captain Ahab because he’s “the only really interesting character in Moby-Dick,” teen twins Linus and Ophelia and their hunky British buddy Walter embark on a project to turn the sailor away from his obsession with killing the white whale. Though a silly, strung-out deception involving a live cougar and a big plush lion that ends with Walter almost drowning in the nearby river provides little more than comic relief, by the time Ahab has to sink back into his story, he’s come around to understanding that the real issue isn’t the whale but his own wounded pride. Along with a remarkable number of continuing side plots, Samson tucks in frequent commentary about the use of clichés, point of view and like writerly topics from a particularly unlikable intrusive narrator who dubs himself “Bartholomew Inkster, self-taught literary fussbudget.” He also includes short (spoiler-free) dialogues on character, values and motivation—both in Moby-Dick and in general. Next up: D’Artagnan!
Though plainly crafted to spark and model book discussions, the tale is generously infused with animating elements of mystery, romance and comedy—plus a particularly lively and diverse supporting cast of grown-ups. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2012
ISBN: 978-0310727972
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Prophesied savior meets eco-thriller in this too-long apocalyptic adventure. Thirteen-year-old Eli is destined for a cushy job at InfiniCorp, his grandfather’s company; all-powerful InfiniCorp runs the domed cities that house the remainder of human civilization. From the Department of Painless Dentistry to the Department of Cool and Comfortable Air, InfiniCorp reassures the citizens that it’s taking care of everything. Eli bucks the system and his own family’s trust by questioning the glitches he witnesses in the dome. It’s not long before he’s roped in to the plots of the Outsiders, barbarians who inhabit the hellish desert outside the domes. Eli’s adventure occasionally descends to proselytizing, with wise mentors explaining the dangers of climate change and consumerism. As homily it fails: Why learn about climate change if salvation lies in a predestined child of privilege leading the suffering masses to the Wild Orange Yonder? Nonetheless, there’s enough excitement in this story of gadgets and intelligent animal sidekicks (Eli’s pet mongoose, Marilyn, communicates with him telepathically) to keep readers turning pages—though possibly not enough to make them seek out volume two. (Science fiction. 12-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-385-73708-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
Bent on tracking down the elven Norumbegans in order to save Vermont from an invasion of dream-sucking Thusser, Brian,...
The third of what is now billed as the Norumbegan Quartet, this sequel to Game of Sunken Places (2004) and Suburb Beyond the Stars (2010) gives new meaning to the term “introspective.”
Bent on tracking down the elven Norumbegans in order to save Vermont from an invasion of dream-sucking Thusser, Brian, Gregory and the mechanical troll Kalgrash pass through an interdimensional curtain—to find themselves inside an organic alien body. It is so vast that entire cities of both Norumbegans and their now-rebellious mechanical servants have sprung up despite sudden destructive floods of ichor and other bodily fluids. Arriving at the capital city in, literally, the heart of the “Empire of the Innards,” the trio discovers that the elves are an effete, degenerate lot dwelling in a slum, wrapped up in their own intrigues and about to be assaulted by the teeming hordes of resentful mechanicals they created. Along with tucking in plenty of poker-faced absurdity, Anderson really stacks the deck here. Not only are the boys able to raise no more than flickers of interest in their cause from their self-absorbed hosts, they become embroiled in a murder investigation. Worse yet, as the relentless Thusser spread back on Earth, they also begin appearing in the Empire.Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-545-13884-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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