Both inventive and contrived.
Who wouldn’t want to find something earth-shatteringly unique while on an Arctic expedition?
Itching to make a discovery of her very own, 13-year-old Maya Parson, whose anthropologist mother is often away on another continent doing fieldwork, finally gets to accompany her woolly-mammoth–expert dad on a foray into the icy wilderness. She soon discovers there are backroom politics to the project, including the designs of a resident billionaire funder, his snarky, filmmaking nephew, some distinguished-but-vaguely-suspicious scientists from Russia and Japan and a kindly anthropologist with a son the same age as Maya. When an unexpected discovery is made, Maya is right in the thick of it, trying to prevent the Russian scientist from cloning the newest finding. Meanwhile, the classic myth of Icarus figures heavily into the picture, with its themes of seeking freedom from captivity and the dangers of not heeding parental warnings when it comes to the perils of flying too close to the sun. While Quimby’s plot is exuberantly fast-paced and earnest, the first-person narration occasionally strains the believability of a 13-year-old’s voice. Limited character development leads to some cartoonish players who fail to evolve, yet readers who fantasize about testing their mettle in the icy wastes will still happily tag along for the ride.
Both inventive and contrived. (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0402-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
A lively romp and an honest read.
Two best pals plan the most epic adventure as their last hurrah.
Matthew and Eric have been best friends since meeting in band in fourth grade. Now in sixth grade, the boys learn that their school band will play in the Spring Music Festival at World of Amazement, the biggest amusement park in the state. But that’s not all: DefenderCon, a comics convention, will be taking place nearby at the same time and will feature special guest Jonah Burns, the author of their favorite character, Sandpiper. The boys also learn that as soon as the school year lets out, Eric will be moving across the country to New York for his pastry chef mom’s new job. Out of desperation the two plan a daring final mission: They will sneak off to DefenderCon, meet their hero, and get back to the amusement park before anyone notices they were gone. Naturally, things do not go exactly to plan. The tightly written, humorous narrative takes on serious subjects as Matt faces racism and both boys are on the receiving end of homophobic bullying due to their close friendship. It is both refreshing and reassuring to read a tale that explores a loving friendship between two boys who defy societal gender norms and are simply authentic to themselves and one another. Matt is Korean American, and Eric presents as White.
A lively romp and an honest read. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64614-011-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A splendidly exciting and accessible historical adventure.
Tory encounters the independence and adventure she longs for in the untamed city of San Francisco in 1849.
Thirteen-year-old narrator Victoria Blaisdell, known to her family as Tory, lives a comfortably privileged life in mid-19th-century Providence, Rhode Island. She is frustrated and constrained by the influence of her maternal aunt, Lavinia, who believes that girls are to take care of boys and should be educated only at home. But when Tory’s father loses his position and wages and decides to seek gold in California, Tory stows away on the ship that will take him and her fretful younger brother, Jacob, on the seven-month journey to San Francisco. There, Tory finds work to keep herself and Jacob going while their father heads off to the gold fields. When Jacob is kidnapped to be a cabin boy for a ship heading out of the Golden Gate, Tory must appeal to her new friend Thad from Maine and to Sam, a wary young black man from Sag Harbor, New York, to help her navigate an underworld of gambling, rogues, and abandoned ships. Sam and Señor Rosales, who runs the cafe near Tory and Jacob’s tent, are the only nonwhite principal characters. Tory is the only girl. Avi evokes Gold Rush–era San Francisco through Tory’s eyes with empathy and clarity while keeping the action lively.
A splendidly exciting and accessible historical adventure. (Historical fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0679-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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