A clever and thoroughly entertaining story—with a moral, to boot.
A Brooklyn crime family of sea gulls threatens the territory of a “wiseguy” sea gull in New Jersey in Chiarella’s debut children’s book.
A great black-backed gull named Hurricane earned his name by surviving a storm. Humans took him in to tend his broken wing, and the metal band that they affixed to his leg is a constant reminder to other birds of Hurricane’s resilience. He’s the boss of the Tommies, an avian gang based in Toms River, New Jersey. Over in New York are the Bennies, led by Bruno da Boss, a large herring gull. Bruno decides that Brooklyn is too hot and stinky, so he picks the Jersey shore as an ideal spot to cool off; he also plans to settle “some stuff” with his adversary, Hurricane. A fight quickly breaks out between the two families that’s temporarily halted by the sight of Tracy and Dyna, a couple of vacationing South Philly sea gulls. A war, however, is imminent, as Bruno wants the beach—and when some of his crew get sick, he blames Hurricane. But it soon becomes clear that something else is making the gulls sick, and Hurricane figures that he can get assistance from the humans who previously helped him. Chiarella’s story, gang war notwithstanding, is lighthearted and educational. The gulls, for example, set aside their differences for the greater good, and younger readers may be inspired to research the diverse types of birds herein. Nevertheless, the dialogue is the real star: Chiarella phoneticizes the characters’ Jersey and Brooklyn lilts, as in “yooze guys” or “Jeetjet,” the latter of which requires a translation (“did ya eat yet?”). The skirmishes between the crews are never violent, and the real dangers are outside forces, from aggressive hawks to whatever’s making the gulls ill. Muccio’s cartoonish illustrations fill entire pages with details, including anthropomorphic character traits, such as Hurricane’s impressive pompadour. Sadly, it’s all over too soon, but a planned sequel with these winged characters seems feasible.
A clever and thoroughly entertaining story—with a moral, to boot.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-5372-1644-7
Page Count: 98
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun.
In a race against their enemies, the Porch girls must find a peculiar pearl in order to foil a fiendish plot.
After defeating a monstrous Kyrgalops in The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch find themselves (after a series of madcap events) at Lake Kagloopy’s Purple Pearl Hotel with their mentor, Millicent Quibb. Quibb informs the trio that they must find the titular pearl before the members of their evil mad-scientist rivals, the KRA, do. If they fail, the KRA (whose members include the malevolent mayor, Majestina DeWeen, and her slimy sycophantic lawyer, Ashley Cookie) plans to use the gem to bestow the Gift of Endless Vibrancy on the villainous Talon Sharktūth. Hilarity ensues as the Porches attend the annual Shrimp Ball, encounter Umbrella Turkeys, search for Cloudite (floating cloud rocks), and don invisible but smelly woolen coats. Jokes aside, the girls’ story is intriguing, offering more clues to their mysterious backgrounds and tantalizing tidbits promising later adventures. McKinnon offers bountiful backstory (alongside a running joke to encourage readers to pick up the preceding volume) and enough guffaw-inducing jokes, zany footnotes, and creative jargon to enthrall readers both new and old with her delightful sophomore effort. Mixing humor, found family, and well-wrought worldbuilding, this sequel is a certain crowd pleaser. Final art not seen; in the previous book, the grayscale illustrations showed the girls with varying skin tones.
Unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun. (appendices) (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9780316555296
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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