Sci-fi seekers lured by the title might be bored, but lovers of historical fiction will be at home. (Historical science...
Can the truth about the Martian invasion of Roswell heal Mylo’s broken heart?
One year, one month, and three days ago, 11-year-old Mylo’s brave older brother, Obie, died. Mylo still feels his loss and his absence keenly, to the point where he won’t let his best friend, Dibs, use Obie’s bed when he sleeps over, insisting that they share his twin. One hot July night in 1947, something lights up the sky. Dibs is certain it’s Martians come to suck out their brains. Mylo’s not convinced until a voice whispers “Help” inside his head. The two friends venture into the desert and find wreckage…but it’s not until they return with friends that they find a saucer and someone who needs help. Mylo vows to help even if the government gets in the way. Following her debut, Lemons (2017), Savage again explores loss and its effect on individuals and families. This mostly realistic tale teeters on the precipice of maudlin and drags a bit—and no military base was ever so easy to break into (nor any American military so deferential to its former members and their children)—but patient readers, especially those who have experienced loss themselves, will identify with strong, good, self-doubting Mylo, who narrates his sometimes-funny story and often addresses his departed brother. The story takes place in Corona, New Mexico, where people of Latinx heritage, including biracial Mylo (his mother is Latinx and his father is white), predominate.
Sci-fi seekers lured by the title might be bored, but lovers of historical fiction will be at home. (Historical science fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-0016-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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