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FISHING FOR LUCK

An adventure that delivers plenty of suspense, a lively tween voice, and some familiar elements.

Parental conflict and an escaped convict with a grudge complicate a boy’s life in this middle-grade novel.

In his first-person narrative, seventh grader Kevin is worried about his parents’ arguments. But with hopes of catching a record-breaking catfish, he’s still looking forward to a spring break trip with his best friends, Preech and Rudy. Kevin’s also eager to learn if the odd stones the three found may be valuable. His worries multiply when Rudy’s stepfather, Ted, the man Kevin helped put in prison, escapes and forces the appalled boy to help him hide. With the safety of Rudy and his own family at stake—including the irrepressible little sister he adores—Kevin feels he has no one to turn to, not even the wise, outdoors-savvy, one-legged veteran soldier the boys call “The Oracle.” Ted, as grossly repulsive as he is dangerous, is a genuine threat in the story, and Richter maintains an authentic balance between Kevin’s courageous bravado and his desperate efforts to keep the fugitive away from those he cares about. (At the sight of Ted’s dilapidated hideout, Kevin says, “fear crawled up my spine like a tarantula. The busted windows were like eyes, and the hole where the front door had been looked like a mouth caught mid-scream.”) Still, despite suspense galore in Kevin’s dangerous predicament involving Ted’s harsh demands, the significance of the three boys’ potentially valuable “lucky rocks,” why Kevin feels guilt over his parents’ conflict, and The Oracle’s quest for his long-missing wife have a strong air of familiarity, recalling events that took place in the author’s debut middle-grade novel, Lucky Rocks (2014), featuring the same characters. Richter does deftly recap for readers Ted’s vicious behavior that occurred in the first book to explain the continuing hatred and fear that Kevin and his friends feel toward him and to give the hero another understandable reason for acting alone in his frightening interactions with the prison escapee. In the end, wrapped up in a chilling plot twist, Kevin learns a freeing lesson about trust and communication and the author offers a teaser of more tales to come.

An adventure that delivers plenty of suspense, a lively tween voice, and some familiar elements.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Manuscript

Review Posted Online: March 20, 2021

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WRECKING BALL

From the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series , Vol. 14

Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.

The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.

When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.

Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)

Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019

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THE WILD ROBOT PROTECTS

From the Wild Robot series , Vol. 3

Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.

Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.

When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.

Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023

ISBN: 9780316669412

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023

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