A maverick bureaucrat becomes a mentor of sorts for an unhappy lad in this offbeat fantasy. Spending an uncomfortable Christmas week with his dad and stepfamily in New York City, 12-year-old Lucas notices an unusual number of pedestrians in greenish overcoats, muttering urgently into cell phones. An irascible Santa named Izzy Gribitz clues him in: like Izzy, they’re employees of the Annoyance Bureau, a little-known agency charged with removing or disabling life’s petty peeves. Only, Izzy claims, the Bureau is wasting much of its effort—a situation he aims to remedy with the Irkostat, a remote-control-like device of his own invention that “inspects, detects, protects, and corrects” annoyances with the push of a button. Gladly agreeing to become Izzy’s apprentice, Lucas begins compiling a list of personal annoyances—topped by his waspish stepsister Phoebe. As Lucas is more absorbed in fretting about his own situation and Izzy’s uncertain status in the Bureau than actually doing anything, this is stronger on premise than plot or character. Near the end, he does take a more active role, ultimately working out better relationships with his dad and, perhaps, even Phoebe, but what is more likely to engage readers are his rib-tickling encounters with distracted Bureau workers, as they scuttle about with bins of confiscated Tickle Me Elmos, self-help books, and the like. Tongue-in-cheek to the max. (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84903-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Richard Jackson/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ramona returns (Ramona Forever, 1988, etc.), and she’s as feisty as ever, now nine-going-on-ten (or “zeroteen,” as she calls it). Her older sister Beezus is in high school, baby-sitting, getting her ears pierced, and going to her first dance, and now they have a younger baby sister, Roberta. Cleary picks up on all the details of fourth grade, from comparing hand calluses to the distribution of little plastic combs by the school photographer. This year Ramona is trying to improve her spelling, and Cleary is especially deft at limning the emotional nuances as Ramona fails and succeeds, goes from sad to happy, and from hurt to proud. The grand finale is Ramona’s birthday party in the park, complete with a cake frosted in whipped cream. Despite a brief mention of nose piercing, Cleary’s writing still reflects a secure middle-class family and untroubled school life, untouched by the classroom violence or the broken families of the 1990s. While her book doesn’t match what’s in the newspapers, it’s a timeless, serene alternative for children, especially those with less than happy realities. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 25, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16816-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
Winning views of a family pulling together, of young people stumbling into adolescence, and of an entertaining if...
Winning a competitive eating contest is David’s only hope of avoiding being grounded for life after he does something stupid with his mother’s credit card.
Already an avid eater and a fan of the “sport,” David Miller, 14, figures that he’s really going to have to up his game after accidently spending $2,000 in an online auction for what is billed as the very hot-dog half that cost pro eater Jooky Garafalo last year’s Nathan’s Famous contest. Fortunately, local pizzeria Pigorino’s is sponsoring a competition at the Iowa State Fair with a $5,000 first prize. Unfortunately, David will have to beat out not only a roster of gifted amateurs to make and win the finals, but also a pair of professionals—notably the renowned but unscrupulous El Gurgitator. As much gourmet as gourmand, David not only vividly chronicles awe-inspiring gustatory feats as he gears up and passes through qualifiers, but describes food with unseemly intensity: “Disks of pepperoni shimmer and glisten on a sea of molten mozzarella.” Even better, though, is the easy, natural way he interacts with Mal, a younger brother whose neurological disability (the term “autistic” is banned from family discourse) transforms but does not conceal a rich internal life. Other subplots, such as a developing relationship between David’s longtime friends Hayden (who is evidently white) and Korean-American Cyn, further enrich a tale in which his own tests and his loving, white family’s determined quest to discover what they dub “Mal’s Rules” both result in thrilling, hard-won triumphs.
Winning views of a family pulling together, of young people stumbling into adolescence, and of an entertaining if controversial pursuit, “reverse-eating events” and all. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9070-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
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