As cool as a Western for gamers may sound, the card game at its center doesn’t offer enough engagement to pull readers in.
A kid crosses the “Wild West” to track down treasure—and the father he refuses to believe is dead.
Shuffle was 7 when Dad left on a treasure-hunting expedition and was declared dead; now, in 1881, he’s 12. When a salesman arrives hawking a card game called Mythic, it’s shocking: Dad and Shuffle invented Mythic alone together, and it’s unique. This can’t be coincidence. Thus begins Shuffle’s shoot-’em-up quest for Dad that leads him from Mourning Glory, Missouri, to San Francisco—teeming with guns, bandits (including women), disguises, escapes, betrayals, and lots of blood. Plus a rail baron and a tornado. Despite dramatic narration (“The sunset bled into a dark sky”), the core here is the intricate card game, which Velasco both overdoes and underdoes. Mythic looms large in Shuffle’s thoughts, the names of its characters (“mythological heroes and monsters”) distractingly italicized; however, its implied details and layers are far too vast to let readers attack the puzzle mystery themselves or share the intensity of Shuffle’s gaming scenes. Shuffle’s white, while Mythic appropriates elements from many cultures (Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Aztec, Egyptian). There are a few characters of color; Shuffle’s primary pal has a Kaw mother but no community history or bonds, rendering her a disconnected, sage-scented Native sidekick/protector with “mythical brown eyes.”
As cool as a Western for gamers may sound, the card game at its center doesn’t offer enough engagement to pull readers in. (map) (Western. 9-13)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-5464-1
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart.
A group of bright friends tackles the puzzle of their lives.
Elmwood, New Hampshire, 11-year-old Gina Sparks is small in stature but big on reporting ongoing dramas for the local newspaper with support from her journalist mom. When an unbelievable scoop comes her way, Gina must rely on her tightknit crew of sixth grade best friends whose initials happen to spell GEEK, a label they choose to proudly reclaim. She and science-minded prankster Elena Hernández, theater kid Edgar Feingarten, and driven math genius Kevin Robinson decide to get to the bottom of things when they learn that the Van Houten Toy & Game Company heir made elaborate plans to leave everything to the town of Elmwood before her death—but only if a member of the community could solve an intricate multistep puzzle. Gina hopes that deciphering the clues and finding the missing fortune will be just the thing to revitalize the down-on-its-luck town and bring the Elmwood Tribune back into the black, saving her mom’s job and Gina’s passion project. The GEEKs work together, using their individual talents and deductive reasoning skills to unravel the mystery. Infused with media literacy pointers, such as the difference between fact and opinion and reminders to avoid bias when reporting, the story encourages readers to think critically. Gina and Edgar read as White; Elena is cued as Latinx, and Kevin is implied Black.
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37793-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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