An imaginative, warmhearted, and often enjoyable tale of dangerous escapades.
In Lodge’s (The Crystal Navigator, 2014) latest middle-grade series installment, sixth-graders use high-tech wizardry to investigate a mysterious anomaly within a famous painting.
During a classroom video presentation about the Mona Lisa, Lucy Nightingale, 11, has a strange experience: “Her favorite painting seemed to be exploding before her eyes. Purple clouds swirled through the landscape, lightning ripped the sky, and Lisa was crying. Something horrible was destroying Leonardo’s portrait.” Apparently, only Sam Winter, her 11-year-old supergenius best friend, notices it, too. He diagnoses it as a “Zoom Seizure,” a “ghastly buzzing syndrome” that smashes the molecules of living things. But the painting isn’t alive…is it? The problem is perfect for SLARP—Sam and Lucy’s Anomalies Research Project—which exists to investigate weird phenomena. Luckily, Lucy’s parents have already planned a Paris vacation, which will give her a chance to visit the Louvre and, she hopes, find a way to protect the painting. Sam is tasked with tracking down a folio that may hold some answers, but first, he provides Lucy with a powerful, multifunctional gadget called a Quetzal that, among other things, can unlock any lock. At the Louvre, Lucy is surprised to see her classmate Melissa Blackwood, a frail, quiet girl who can also see the Zoom Seizure. Her efforts to steal the Mona Lisa necessitate a rescue by Lucy and eventually take both girls into the Parisian catacombs and far, far beyond. Lodge offers an intriguing blend of science, mysticism, art history, and adventure in this book. Her characters and dialogue are amusing, but they don’t lose sight of serious matters at stake—a style that’s reminiscent of such classics as Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Some events and characters, such as Wilbur, a “Wise One” in the form of a talking corgi dog, can be confusing; the series’ previous title isn’t mentioned in the front or back matter, so new readers may feel as if they’ve walked into a movie that’s already started. Also, story problems are often overcome by science that slides into anything-goes magic, such as Lucy’s ability to create things with her thoughts.
An imaginative, warmhearted, and often enjoyable tale of dangerous escapades.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9960885-6-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Wilwahren Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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