A fantastic second addition to an already-acclaimed series.
The Legendary Alston Boys of Logan County are back in a new multiverse adventure.
In the series opener, readers were introduced to the detective team of cousins Sheed and Otto Alston when they went toe-to-toe with the time-stopping Mr. Flux. A mirror “borrowed” from the Rorrim Mirror Emporium in downtown Fry to resolve that showdown sets off the journey of this sequel, as the boys are magically reminded by Missus Nedraw that the Emporium is no ordinary house of mirrors. Yes, behind the mirrors lie whole new worlds where Missus Nedraw and the menacing-looking Judge reign over the Multiverse Justice System. The word is that they need Otto and Sheed to recapture an extraordinarily dangerous criminal who has escaped, but something seems not quite right about this setup—something more insidious than the reality-bending rules of this dimension they’ve entered, including a gang of spiders who call themselves the ArachnoBRObia. Even more complicated, Otto worries that Sheed is in need of a checkup but knows he will refuse to self-advocate for a doctor’s visit. Otto can’t just let his detective partner lapse into what might be an even more serious health condition. This heartwarming adventure centers on the caring relationship between two Black boys while driving home a lesson about what justice might truly be.
A fantastic second addition to an already-acclaimed series. (Science fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-12941-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Versify/HMH
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride.
Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.
The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A boisterous balance of potty humor and geek pride in this rollicking young engineer’s adventure, the first of two.
A gang of science nerds unwittingly unleashes a squadron of destructive robots and must engineer a way to save the town in Lerner’s debut novel.
When a mysterious box appears outside Kennedy’s house, he enlists the help of best friend and fellow EngiNerd Dan to sift through the metal parts and hardware. Together, they piece together a polite but ravenous robot named Greeeg. The robot eats all the food in the house—refusing only radishes—and Kennedy discovers that Greeeg is both insatiable and unmanageable. The potential for catastrophe is fully realized when Greeeg propulsively “disposes” (that’s robot defecation) tiny, window-shattering, brown-black cubes. Is the robot from Grandpa K., Kennedy’s hero and a former engineer? Is it coincidence that his best friend also hates radishes? Unfortunately, Kennedy isn’t the only one with a robot problem. Eighteen bullet-farting robots storm town, and the EngiNerds must band together and use ingenuity to prevent the robots from consuming and destroying everything in their wake. Sci-fi readers will enjoy the science and tinkering, but dangerous excreta is pure schoolboy horseplay. The story includes clever duct-tape solutions, the construction of catapults from disposable chopsticks, and a good, old-fashioned water fight in this action-packed celebration of nerd culture. The absence of ethnic markers implies that Kennedy is white, but the surnames of the EngiNerds suggest a diverse assemblage.
A boisterous balance of potty humor and geek pride in this rollicking young engineer’s adventure, the first of two. (Science fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6872-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
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