Griffin Fenn and his father, Philip, enjoy a quiet life looking after a lighthouse on the Oregon coast.
Suddenly, their calm, ordered world is shattered by the arrival of the mysterious Society of Lighthouse Keepers. The Keepers need Philip’s help with the light’s lens, which Griffin learns is a portal linking Earth to seven other worlds. After reluctantly agreeing, Philip disappears through the portal, leaving Griffin on his own with the Society and its dubious intentions. Griffin turns to his dad’s journal, his late mother’s bedtime stories about imaginary worlds, and his own knowledge of glass to find his way through the portal. The portal takes Griffin to Somni, an invading world where wicked priests control an entire populace with stolen magic. Then Griffin meets Fi, a member of a covert group of revolutionaries who have evaded the spell and are planning to bring down the priests. If Griffin wants to rescue his dad, he’ll have to join the resistance. The smooth third-person narration moves back and forth between Griffin and Fi. They are both resilient, self-reliant, and determined; readers will cheer them on until the end. Action is well-paced, making for a fast read that ends too soon. The book’s diversity isn’t among the people of Earth, who present white, but among the denizens of the different worlds.
The cliffhanger ending leaves the portal open for a sequel; with luck, readers won’t have to wait long for Book 2. (Fantasy. 8-13)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0514-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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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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Roz, a robot who learned to adapt to life among wild creatures in her first outing, seeks to return to the island she calls home.
Brown’s sequel to The Wild Robot (2016) continues an intriguing premise: What would happen to a robot after challenges in an unexpected environment cause it to evolve in unusual ways? As this book opens, Roz is delivered to a farm where she helps a widower with two young children run a dairy operation that has been in his family for generations. Roz reveals her backstory to the cows, who are supportive of the robot’s determination to return to the island and to her adopted son, the goose Brightbill. The cows, the children, and finally Brightbill himself come to Roz’s aid. The focus on Roz’s escape from human control results in a somewhat solemn and episodic narrative, with an extended journey and chase after Roz leaves the farm. Dr. Molovo, a literal deus ex machina, appears near the end of the story to provide a means of rescue. She is Roz’s designer/creator, and, intrigued by the robot’s adaptation and evolution but cognizant of the threat that those achievements might represent to humans, she assists Roz and Brightbill in their quest. The satisfactory (if inevitable-feeling) conclusion may prompt discussion about individual agency and determination, whether for robots or people.
If not as effervescent as Roz’s first outing, it is still a provocatively contemplative one. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-38204-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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