Imaginative, kooky, but too devoid of reality to be fully engaging, this story is likely to score with its demographic but...
When a boy is magically transported to Ogregon, a world of gigantic but mostly small-brained ogres, he must figure out not only how to escape before being eaten, but also how to rescue a group of captives and plug the hole between worlds.
In the course of Urban’s thickly plotted, humorous novel, aimed squarely at middle school boys, protagonist Milo Speck grows physically, mentally, and emotionally as he faces challenge after challenge: amusing a gigantic baby by doing the chicken dance, escaping from said baby’s even more gigantic mother in a repairman’s pouch that contains, yes, a stinky rotting sandwich, and finally (gasp!) confronting the evil whazzit. In doing so, Milo, a mechanically minded boy, draws on skills and talents he didn’t know he had, makes friends with Tuck, a bossy girl who turns out to be his father’s boss, and becomes a Tuckerman Agent. The plot doesn’t always make complete sense, but it’s a fizzy ride, and readers who like a combination of silly comedy and fairy-tale fantasy should enjoy it. Despite the action-heavy emphasis, Milo is a well-detailed character with a strong moral code, making him easy to root for.
Imaginative, kooky, but too devoid of reality to be fully engaging, this story is likely to score with its demographic but will not find converts outside it. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-41951-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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