An inventive and surprisingly coherent mix of monsters, mystery, courtroom drama, and real-life family dynamics.
In book one of a new fantasy series for middle schoolers, a boy’s sour perspective on life changes during an unexpected encounter with giants, dragons, trolls, and other mythical creatures.
Mom is on a prolonged sales trip in China; Dad is deployed to the Middle East; and Brodie Adkins, age 12 and angry about his parents’ divorce, has been sent to Key West, Florida, to spend the summer with an uncle he’s never met. After Brodie’s plane lands, he is whisked away by a troll cabbie to Monstrovia, a “crazy place not on any map of Florida, the United States or the World.” Uncle Jasper turns out to be a lawyer famous for defending “Monsters, Fictional Folk, etc.” who counts Dracula among his clients and drives a dragon with a bathtub sidecar. Brodie hangs on to his skepticism and keeps his emotional distance until he is caught up in the case of Jack, accused of murdering a giant and stealing certain precious items. Jack’s sister insists he’s innocent, but it doesn’t bode well that the judge and jury are giants. The author deftly weaves these “Jack and the Beanstalk” elements into a parallel world where pixies are pesky reporters, the district attorney is a 14-foot-tall Perry Mason look-alike, the goose with the golden eggs takes the stand, and Jack’s missing father and mother become keys to the verdict. As Brodie becomes invested in the outcome, he puts aside his own grievances and fears (although he’s still not crazy about the giant spiders), assists his uncle in court, and begins to understand the roots of his own anger and mistrust. That the summer will be a life-changer for the troubled youth isn’t hard to predict, but Newhouse (A Bite Before Christmas, 2016, etc.) goes about it with imagination, humor—often the mild, gross-out kind—and a solid awareness of challenges faced by many young adolescents, while avoiding cloying plot strands. How affirmation and positive reinforcement can effect change may be the unsubtle takeaway here, but the author, a former educator, delivers it with informed empathy and gleeful wit.
An inventive and surprisingly coherent mix of monsters, mystery, courtroom drama, and real-life family dynamics.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-51895-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Aim-Hi Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
