An atmospheric, romantic tale: of the sea, which "will take what it wants and keep what it has taken"; of a captain's widow who (truly forsaking all others) has been waiting 30 years for a sign from her drowned husband; of the old woman's son who fled in his youth from the treacherous sea—and perhaps from his mother's indifference; and of the granddaughter, also named Geneva, who goes to help when Gram breaks her ankle and who thus becomes involved in her desperate nightly search along the shore. There's another character too, named Seward, but only the two Genevas can see him or his footprints as he prowls the shore in the sea's employ, hoping to find the "sign" before Gram does so that he can return it according to the bargain he made with the sea when he was drowning years before. It was Seward who told Gram that the swallowed ships, with "all the poor drowned sailors," are kept at the bottom of the sea to guard its treasures, and that her husband was down there struggling to send her some sort of token. And when young Geneva retrieves from the waves the wooden figurehead carved in Gram's image long ago, it is Seward who warns that the sea will have it back because "the ship can't see without its eyes." But Gram is stubborn and it takes a hurricane to wrest it from her—and her son's arrival at the crucial moment to save her from drowning. This fortuitous last undercuts the seriousness of the tale, and there is more to come. Also, unlike Tuck Everlasting (which also had more life and incident), the plot of . . . the Amaryllis is somewhat precariously based—on a notion (the drowned treasure patrol) that is just not compelling enough for the elemental magnitude of the struggle. Still, as Babbit projects it, Gram's devotion—whether steadfast or obsessive—has its fascination.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1977
ISBN: 0312370083
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1977
A solid series starter for tinkerers and adventurers alike.
Even robot cats have a mind of their own.
All 12-year-old Canadian Lacey Chu’s ever wanted was to become a companioneer like her idol, Monica Chan, co-founder of the largest tech firm in North America, Moncha Corp., and mastermind behind the baku. Bakus, “robotic pets with all the features of a smartphone,” revolutionized society and how people interact with technology. As a companioneer, Lacey could work on bakus: designing, innovating, and building. When she receives a grant rejection from Profectus Academy of Science and Technology, a school that guarantees employment at Moncha Corp., she’s devastated. A happenstance salvaging of a mangled cat baku might just change the game. Suddenly, Lacey’s got an in with Profectus and is one step closer to her dream. Jinx, however, is not quite like the other bakus—he’s a wild cat that does things without commands. Together with Jinx, Lacey will have to navigate competitive classmates and unsettling corporate secrets. McCulloch effectively strikes a balance between worldbuilding and action. High-stakes baku battles demonstrate the emotional bond between (robotic) pet and owner. Readers will also connect to the relationships the Asian girl forges with her diverse classmates, including a rivalry with Carter (a white boy who’s the son of Moncha’s other co-founder, Eric Smith), a burgeoning crush on student Tobias, who’s black, and evolving friendships new and old. While some mysteries are solved, a cliffhanger ending raises even more for the next installment.
A solid series starter for tinkerers and adventurers alike. (Science fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8374-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face.
Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leaf…or a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp.
As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean… / … I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man.
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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