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
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride.
Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.
The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
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