Though there’s a bit of closure, readers will be ready for the sequel when they turn the final page.
Newly orphaned Clivo Wren’s about to discover a monstrous family secret.
After 13-year-old Clivo’s archaeologist father dies on a dig in Colombia (his mother passed away previously), eccentric Aunt Pearl, who used to care for Clivo during his dad’s frequent expeditions, moves in with her cats. Clivo’s ready to settle into his average life when Douglas Chancery, a pushy stranger, visits to inform Clivo that his father, Russell, was actually a cryptid catcher traveling the world hunting for legendary creatures. Russell was trying to locate a specific cryptid whose blood is the key to immortality. Russell and Douglas had an agreement that, should something happen to Russell, Douglas would hire Clivo to do the job. Suddenly, all the martial arts, language classes (in Japanese, Hindustani, Arabic, and Russian), and survival training Clivo’s parents put him through makes sense. Clivo agrees to help grumpy Douglas find the one Russell was looking for and keep it out of the hands of evildoers…but Clivo’s going to need more help than Douglas’ money can buy. Fisher’s debut, the first half of a duology, delivers adventure and laughs to readers who are willing to check their disbelief on Page 1. Clivo’s a white boy, a good-hearted Everykid, and the helpers he finds are a multicultural melting pot of monster-loving nerds.
Though there’s a bit of closure, readers will be ready for the sequel when they turn the final page. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-374-30554-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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
Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride.
A new virtual-reality theme park goes haywire on a crowd of young victims, er, visitors in Alexander’s latest screamfest.
Having scored one of just 100 coveted preview tickets to a cutting-edge, kids-only venue dubbed ESCAPE, budding amusement park fan and designer Cody Baxter is looking forward to a life-changing experience. What he gets is more of a life-threatening one, as games and rides with names like Triassic Terror and Haunted Hillside not only pit him against a monster and then zombies—or sometimes a monster and zombies—as well as ruthless competing players, but seem tailored to play on individual personal terrors. And, in some never explained way, the VR quickly turns into real battles that inflict real wounds even as the real settings shift with sudden, dizzying unpredictability. Teaming up with loyal new friends Jayson Torn and Inga Andersdottir, the former described as being Japanese and White and the latter as Norwegian, Cody (who seems to default to White) struggles for survival, learning ultimately that ESCAPE was created by an evil genius with an ulterior motive who is convinced that he can teach children a salutary lesson. The plot’s no more logical in its twists and contrivances than the premise, but the author’s knack for spinning out nightmarish situations is definitely on display here as the tale careens toward a properly lurid outcome.
Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride. (Light horror. 9-12)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-26047-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
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