This debut middle-grade book asks readers: Would you rather be fearless or courageous?
Sixth-grader Joe Dearborne is known in his small North Carolina hometown for being fearless, a reputation he earned for such feats as rescuing a neighbor’s dog from a burning house. But the truth is he’s just reckless: He literally doesn’t feel fear. However, after a poisonous snakebite nearly kills him, it also robs him of this gift and gives him the chance not only to be afraid, but also to learn what real courage means. His first encounter with being scared arrives in the coolly diabolical form of Mrs. Chill, who comes to look after him while his father takes care of business matters overseas. At first, Joe longs for the simplicity of his old life, but then he resolves to ignore the fact that he’s afraid of Mrs. Chill until his dad gets home. But when she turns out to be a real danger to Joe’s family and friends, he must find the courage to stop her. The allegory may seem obvious to experienced readers as Joe moves from innocence to experience in order to discover his true character. Young readers, however, will be captivated by the tightly written, suspenseful story featuring a likable main character and an engaging villain. Mitchell creates scenarios that are exciting, believable and age-appropriate; Joe goes on adventures, such as a night in the woods with a coyote, and experiences a budding romance with an equally courageous girl named Meg Darcy. The mystery of Mrs. Chill’s true motives, along with the story’s apparently paranormal elements, will make it hard for youngsters to stop reading.
A unique, engaging chapter-book adventure.
Pub Date: July 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1495933592
Page Count: 198
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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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 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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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 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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