An imaginative, fun adventure that’s just the beginning of a new amalgamated mythology.
Fantasy adventure spins between terror and comedy when teen siblings battle supernatural forces lurking in the forest and their computers.
When 15-year-old Logan and his 13-year-old sister Mindy wake up after a neighborhood picnic, they find themselves in a strange house near a beach and woods. Their first thoughts are practical—“Where are Mom and Dad?” Their next are childish; they tease each other about the funny pajamas they find themselves in. The pair soon discovers that while familiar kids live in nearby houses, there are no adults. In Lord of the Flies fashion, the youngsters split into teams of good guys and bad guys. Generous and brave Logan realizes that he can magically enter the computer in his bedroom, play games and then return. Things go horribly wrong when Kyle, the neighborhood bully, sets evil in motion after being tempted by the shadowy Silhouettes who visit at dawn and dusk. Animals in the nearby woods speak to each other about the children and some try to help. When Logan and Mindy become trapped inside the computer world, the sinister Lord Torrent of the Deep Shadows hatches a plot to gain a powerful staff hidden there by the mysterious Bill Purdy. Various pixel characters the siblings meet while inside the computer (including versions of their parents, an uncle, the bumbling comic Detective Danby, the hapless gambler Nick Roman and a fortune teller) help and hinder their struggle to get home to the “real” world. After a satisfying conclusion, the promise of more adventures looms when the newly forgiven Kyle muses that “deep down, he knew he had enjoyed being a bully….something in his brain triggered happiness when he inflicted grief on others.” This well-written tale combines two imaginary worlds popular with younger readers—fantasy and computer games. Plus, the tale isn’t really over; this is the first of an eight-book series. No need to say goodbye to Mindy and Logan, a young pair with the smarts and spunk to overcome whatever the future brings.
An imaginative, fun adventure that’s just the beginning of a new amalgamated mythology.Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0615439259
Page Count: 298
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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