by Michael Northrop ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 27, 2015
Funny and smart, Alex and Ren are excellent companions for this fast-paced and scorpion-filled ride. (Adventure. 8-12)
Scholastic launches its latest multiplatform series, this one steeped in ancient Egyptian magic.
Twelve-year-old Alex Sennefer is blessed with a mother who would risk everything for him, a best friend, Ren (short for Renata), who accepts him just as he is, and an insatiable hunger for anything having to do with ancient Egypt. It’s a good thing that his second home is the famed Metropolitan Museum of Art, where his Egyptologist mother is preparing to open a groundbreaking new exhibition. If only his body would hang on long enough for him to see it. A lifetime of illness catches up with him, and he is pronounced dead by his doctors—but then Alex is suddenly pulled from the brink and awakens to discover he is not only alive, but also healthier than ever. Unfortunately, Alex isn’t the only one being given a second chance at life. Almost immediately, he and Ren find themselves in a battle of ancient Egyptian proportions and embroiled in a quest to find his mysteriously missing mother and save the world. Like a preteen Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, Alex and Ren make a compelling duo, and Northrop balances pathos and action effectively to engage readers.
Funny and smart, Alex and Ren are excellent companions for this fast-paced and scorpion-filled ride. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-72338-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 2014
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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by Stuart Gibbs ; illustrated by Anjan Sarkar ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Will satisfy fans but could be better.
Young CIA agent-in-training Benjamin Ripley switches sides—or is he just going undercover?—in this graphic version of the third Spy School caper.
Sticking to the plot of the 2015 original, this episode sees the talented math whiz recruited by nefarious organization SPYDER after being (unjustly, he fumes) kicked out of the CIA’s academy. While training in a hidden school for evildoers with other prospective villains, including Ashley Sparks, a gushy former competitive gymnast with a fondness for portmanteau words (sweet + awesome = swawesome), Ben gets wind of a dastardly scheme to make billions on government construction projects. Hot if inept pursuit by both rival espionage agencies takes Ben from a secret underground command center to the top of the Statue of Liberty. But while the action has a rapid flow in the art (Sarkar is good at portraying fights, high-speed chases, and explosions), several characters are drawn with generic features and such a limited range of expressions that even with help from the cast gallery, it’s hard to tell them apart easily. Still, along with coming through in the suspenseful climax—thanks to clever deductions and quick thinking—by the end, Ben has also achieved a long-sought breakthrough with Erica Hale (code name “Ice Queen”), a superbly omnicompetent schoolmate who has his heart as well as his back. The cast largely presents white.
Will satisfy fans but could be better. (Graphic thriller. 8-12)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781665931946
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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