A solid choice for readers who like history with their mystery.
Time-traveling archenemies must work together to save their school.
In a world where some people are born with a gene that allows them to slide in and out of time—to Glitch—children with that DNA are educated at a special school run by the government. Interfering with the past is against the law, and anyone who travels back in time to manipulate history is labeled a Butterfly and arrested. Glitchers are trained to stop Butterflies, and Regan Fitz, whose mom is commander in chief of the U.S. branch of Glitch Academy, has great intuition when it comes to spotting people intent on altering the timeline. She is, however, at the bottom of her class because school is a struggle. Her nemesis is Elliot Mason, who is at the top of the class, but he lacks the gut instincts needed to be an excellent Glitcher. Character development takes a back seat to premise and plot here. Regan and Elliot fight constantly and are in the middle of an epic blowup when a Cocoon—an object planted by a Butterfly to effect a change—in Regan’s handwriting appears. The pair must work together to figure out its clues and succeed in their mission, all while avoiding detection and being arrested as Butterflies. The final time-travel sequences are many and dizzying, but the excellent pacing of the race to save the day overshadows this mechanics issue. Elliot appears black and Regan is white.
A solid choice for readers who like history with their mystery. (Science fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-289435-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
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