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
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
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 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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