An ill-wrought, not to mention superfluous, tie-in.
The Pumpkin King of Halloween Town misguidedly tries to give Santa an enforced rest.
Joining pop-up, picture-book, movie novelization, video game, and multiple manga versions of the original film, not to mention a heavily illustrated 2021 deluxe adaptation and a YA sequel (Shea Ernshaw’s Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, 2022), this effort to squeeze the last drop of market juice from the macabre holiday classic presents a clunky prose rendition set within wide black borders, unadorned with atmospheric spot art, original illustrations, or even stills. Shepherd does largely preserve the film’s plotline and dialogue, if not always with literary flair: “Almost moving as one amorphous blob, the crowd pressed even closer,” and “All his renewed confidence moved aside in one fell swoop.” Readers are likely to find her gothic tweaks, which range from a reference to the “possessed gunshot-ridden duck” that Jack-as-Santa delivers to an unsuspecting household to villain Oogie Boogie’s lecherous assault on rag doll Sally (“He ran his sack hand down the curve of the leg and tossed off its black boot…”), discomfiting—and not in a good way. Ultimately, the tale stumbles to a close with the Undead Ensemble serenading “everyone who treasured the beautiful darkness of Halloween.”
An ill-wrought, not to mention superfluous, tie-in. (Holiday fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: July 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781368094214
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Disney Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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