Twelve-year-old twins Penny and Percy and adopted brother Pauly are spending the summer on their Uncle Stretch’s farm while their parents try to straighten out their messed-up lives.
Their parents imaginatively refer to this summer vacation as “Horse Camp,” but the horses are mean and the farm is much dirtier than any camp. Sanctimonious Penny, who relates her story through letters and a diary, hasn’t fallen far from her father’s tree—he’s a money-focused missionary Bible thumper with a heart that’s definitely not made of gold. Percy is less judgmental but viciously bullies preschooler Pauly and whines unpleasantly about any work he’s forced to do; he relates his side in alternating first person chapters. Both of them are trying to come to grips with their mother’s impending incarceration for illegally distributing medications to poor people in an attempt to alleviate their misery. Although both preteens are annoyingly obnoxious, the good will that surrounds them—in the form of earthy Stretch, his loving if sometimes unsophisticated girlfriend Sheryl and her cheerful, forgiving daughter June Bug—gradually alters their attitudes and results in a believable dual coming-of-age tale.
While Penny and Percy are easy to dislike, it’s nonetheless oddly amusing to watch their evolution into more decent people, especially since readers have the fun of viewing the change from the pair’s richly biased viewpoints. (Fiction. 10-15)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60684-351-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Egmont USA
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
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A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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In honor of its 25th anniversary, a Disney Halloween horror/comedy film gets a sequel to go with its original novelization.
Three Salem witches hanged in 1693 for stealing a child’s life force are revived in 1993 when 16-year-old new kid Max completes a spell by lighting a magical candle (which has to be kindled by a virgin to work). Max and dazzling, popular classmate Allison have to keep said witches at bay until dawn to save all of the local children from a similar fate. Fast-forward to 2018: Poppy, daughter of Max and Allison, inadvertently works a spell that sends her parents and an aunt to hell in exchange for the gleeful witches. With help from her best friend, Travis, and classmate Isabella, on whom she has a major crush, Poppy has only hours to keep the weird sisters from working more evil. The witches, each daffier than the last, supply most of the comedy as well as plenty of menace but end up back in the infernal regions. There’s also a talking cat, a talking dog, a gaggle of costumed heroines, and an oblique reference to a certain beloved Halloween movie. Traditional Disney wholesomeness is spiced, not soured, by occasional innuendo and a big twist in the sequel. Poppy and her family are white, while Travis and Isabella are both African-American.
A bit of envelope-pushing freshens up the formula. (Fantasy. 10-15)Pub Date: July 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-368-02003-9
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Freeform/Disney
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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