Following series opener The Once and Future Geek (2018), 21st-century video gamers Sophie and Stu dive into another time-travel misadventure in Arthurian legend.
The newly crowned King Arthur is sick, and only a sip from the enchanted Holy Grail can cure him. Morgana attacks the cup’s protectors, leaving Nimue, the young druid of Avalon, to seek refuge in Merlin’s cave. Unfortunately, only his apprentice, Emrys, is there. Green in magic skills, Emrys accidentally turns the Grail into an extremely flatulent baby dragon. Uh-oh. It’s just Sophie’s luck that her first mission as a Companion, pledged to guard “the once and future king throughout the annals of time,” would come during a bridesmaid’s-dress fitting for her dad’s imminent remarriage—and that her soon-to-be stepsister, Ashley, a glitter-obsessed cheerleader, is pulled along for the ride. Stu joins them later, agonizing over “the right moment” to tell Sophie about his upcoming move across the country. On their quest to restore the Grail and heal the king, the kids travel to both an Arthurian-themed resort in Las Vegas and the fabled land of Faerie. Nimue’s braided black hair and brown skin are a break from the otherwise default-white cast. Retrograde appeals for boys to aid “damsels in distress,” especially if they’re pretty, sound sour notes. Witty quips, copious pop-culture references, and the occasional snatch of gamer-speak aim this effort at novice genre readers.
A Volume 2 for readers who like their fantasy light. (Fantasy. 8-13)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-01477-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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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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The dreary prospect of spending a lifetime making caskets instead of wonderful inventions prompts a young orphan to snatch up his little sister and flee. Where? To the circus, of course.
Fortunately or otherwise, John and 6-year-old Page join up with Boz—sometime human cannonball for the seedy Wandering Wayfarers and a “vertically challenged” trickster with a fantastic gift for sowing chaos. Alas, the budding engineer barely has time to settle in to begin work on an experimental circus wagon powered by chicken poop and dubbed (with questionable forethought) the Autopsy. The hot pursuit of malign and indomitable Great-Aunt Beauregard, the Coggins’ only living relative, forces all three to leave the troupe for further flights and misadventures. Teele spins her adventure around a sturdy protagonist whose love for his little sister is matched only by his fierce desire for something better in life for them both and tucks in an outstanding supporting cast featuring several notably strong-minded, independent women (Page, whose glare “would kill spiders dead,” not least among them). Better yet, in Boz she has created a scene-stealing force of nature, a free spirit who’s never happier than when he’s stirring up mischief. A climactic clutch culminating in a magnificently destructive display of fireworks leaves the Coggin sibs well-positioned for bright futures. (Illustrations not seen.)
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish. (Adventure. 11-13)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234510-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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