Easy-to-read action-based stories for military aficionados and adrenaline junkies only. (Adventure. 9-13)
Spradlin chronicles several missions of a team of U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen as they travel to some of the planet’s most perilous spots in order to save lives and live up to their motto: “These things we do, so others may live.”
Be it on the forbidding cold mountainside of Denali in Alaska, the wild and impenetrable Amazon jungle, or the boundless flood plain of the Nile River, the elite men (there are no women) of the U.S.A.F. Pararescue Corps risk their lives rescuing lost and injured soldiers. Author Spradlin adroitly mixes accounts of fearless engagement, physical prowess, and military tactics in a fast-moving book that can get the right reader hooked. This book is not for everybody, however; some readers might grow tired of the never-ending heroism, the steely resolve, the exaggerated accounts of brazen engagement—as in an early incident when one empties his M-4 at an oncoming missile in Afghanistan—or the heavy usage of military jargon and peppering of initialisms and acronyms (PJ, LZ, NCO, SERE, CRO, etc.). However, for those readers who eat this stuff up, it will be camouflage-coated candy. The PJs are a diverse crew judging by naming convention, but they are nearly identical in derring-do.
Easy-to-read action-based stories for military aficionados and adrenaline junkies only. (Adventure. 9-13)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4965-8105-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Stone Arch Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
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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