Even readers with no political aspirations can pick up several useful cons.
Middle school hustler Max Corrigan ups his game to manage a hard-fought campaign for class president.
Being ever the man with a plan, Max adroitly pushes the never-named New Kid into the race. What does a winning campaign need? First, an issue…so how about promising to get the schoolwide ban on chewing gum lifted! Next on the agenda: line up a talented staff, hot teacher endorsements, and media attention for the “pro-gum candidate.” Offering fiendishly plausible pointers on such skills as fake-reading an assigned book and impersonating callers on the phone, Max lays out a strategy that can’t miss—unless, that is, a rival “one-percenter” candidate with a clever manager of his own steals the vote with glittering promises and showers of expensive swag. Using second-person narration addressed at the New Kid, Swaab tells the tale between the lines of Max’s glib patter and frantic reactions to being outmaneuvered; cartoon line drawings on nearly every page convey side comments and punch lines. Max looks white, but names and, in the pictures, hair styles and facial features hint at some diversity in the cast. Readers who identify with the never-seen New Kid can pat themselves on the back as “you” repeatedly come through in the clutch.
Even readers with no political aspirations can pick up several useful cons. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2126-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A page-turner that gives the heroic Stonekeepers plenty of chances to show their stuff and moves the main story along an...
Wraithlike attackers force a mass evacuation and a cryptic prophecy’s meaning begins to clear in this headlong continuation of Kibuishi’s deservedly popular series.
The action picks up in midflight as Navin and companions survive the destruction of their giant robot suits, then help the fleeing survivors of the city of Lucien by fighting a rear-guard action against swarms of diaphanous, cat-eyed, zombie-making Dark Scouts. Meanwhile Emily, Trellis and Vigo reluctantly join traitorous elf Max Griffin in another visit to the Voice’s realm of memories that leads to the death of a major character—along with a rescue, reunions with old friends and a lead-in to the next episode. Though the ongoing plotlines and large cast make familiarity with earlier outings a necessity, this one still features a crowd-pleasing blend of lively dialogue (“And I don’t care what the prophecies say. You’re still a slacker”), easy-to-follow, nonstop action, elves, robots and derring-do amid awesome sound effects (“D-DOOOM SHHAAAAAA,” “SZRAK!”). Most of the cleanly drawn, lushly backgrounded panels focus on faces, with occasional full-spread scenes adding dramatic visual highlights.
A page-turner that gives the heroic Stonekeepers plenty of chances to show their stuff and moves the main story along an inch or two. (Graphic fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-43315-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
Unable to pay the bills simply forecasting weather, three young people decide to sell weather itself, 50 pence the sunbeam, with predictable results. Using magic tokens, the Summer sisters Melissa and Patricia—plus little brother Arthur, whom they dub an honorary sister—actually predict the weather with perfect accuracy, but since the pounds just aren’t rolling in, the three turn to an overdue library book and dance up barrels full of rain clouds and sunny days to dispense. Disaster ensues, as first a vacation-ruining cloud gets in with the sunbeams, and then when Arthur accidentally snuffs out the sun. Supported by a cast of stock eccentrics and bemused parents, the sisters make a lively, contentious team, posing with disheveled grace in Kenyon’s small, frequent black-and- white ink drawings. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-531-30080-3
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1998
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