An exciting YA thriller with supernatural elements and a brave, enterprising heroine.
A young American woman in Czechoslovakia goes on a quest for an immortality potion in this debut young-adult thriller.
After the Iron Curtain is lifted in 1991, 18-year-old Hana Silna travels to Prague to take possession of The Rockery, her family home. She’s flying alone because her father is dead and her mother is seriously ill. Her Czech cousins, The Rockery’s co-owners, greet her with friendly warmth. Soon after she arrives, however, Hana finds herself embroiled in a dangerous search for a flask once owned by an alchemist who knew the secret of immortality. Aided by diplomat’s son Alex Williams and others, Hana explores Prague landmarks, castles and even torture chambers. She races to unravel centuries-old riddles, dodging bad guys as she figures out whom she can trust. In her debut novel, DeBruce makes good use of her beautiful setting, intelligently showcasing Prague’s local history, art, people and places. She also ups the ante by including several vulnerable characters for Hana to worry about, such as Alex’s sister, who suffers from a severe medical condition. The author also nicely handles the immortality aspect with reasonably scientific explanations. Hana has a wry, likeable first-person voice; at one point, she considers calling her mother, but wonders what to say: “The good news is we have The Rockery back; the bad news is I’m being chased all over Prague by an immortal psycho killer.” Meanwhile, motorcycle-riding Alex is a useful and, Hana must admit, attractive partner. DeBruce sustains the mystery by periodically using a second narrator (other than Hana), known as the Nomad. The sometimes violent action moves quickly, with exciting chases and unexpected twists. After the story ends with “To Be Continued,” readers will likely to want to see more of Hana and Alex.
An exciting YA thriller with supernatural elements and a brave, enterprising heroine.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-484-88453-9
Page Count: 277
Publisher: Quicksilver Legacy Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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