A quick read about a girl sleuth whose fiery determination will leave readers wanting Book 2.
Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan meet Nancy Drew.
In this first novel by Oscar-winning actress Spencer, Randi Rhodes thrives on solving the mysteries that unfold in her busy Brooklyn neighborhood. Her father, Herb Rhodes, author of the best-selling Glenn Street detective novels, spent Randi’s childhood on book tours but stopped writing after his wife’s recent death from cancer. Ready for a change, Herb moves the family to the small town of Deer Creek, Tenn., where they always spend summer vacations. Shortly after their arrival, in the midst of the Founders’ Day Festival, someone steals the Deer Creek time capsule, which might hold the town’s treasure. Randi, a black belt in karate, teams up with hearing-impaired, asthmatic Dario “D.C.” Cruz and lithe African-American Pudge Taylor from Boston to crack the case of the missing time capsule. Replete with crooked politicians, a spooky house and a ghost, a stormy night, caves with bandits and bats, and several well-placed martial arts kicks, this novel will keep young readers guessing. Despite the difficulty of keeping track of the minor characters, readers will appreciate Randi’s determination to make a difference. A series of appendices includes ninja tips and recipes.
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7681-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Kibuishi gives his epic tale a hefty nudge toward its long-building climax while giving readers plenty of reasons to stick...
Stonekeeper Emily frees the elves from their monstrous masked ruler and sets out to rejoin her brother and mother in the series’ penultimate episode.
The multistranded storyline picks up with Emily’s return to the world of Alledia. Now a fiery, destructive phoenix struggling to regain control of her actions, Emily goes on to follow her brother Navin and allies as they battle invading shadows on the nearby world of Typhon, then switches back to human form for a climactic confrontation with the Elf King—in the course of which Emily rips off his mask to a chorus of “ERGH!! NO!!! GRAH! RRGH!! AAAGH!” to expose a rousingly hideous face. Cute animal heads on many figures (the result of a curse) and a scene with benevolent-looking trees provide at least a bit of relief from the grim expressions that all the human and humanoid elven characters almost invariably wear. But along with emphatic sound effects, the battle and action scenes in the cleanly drawn, if sometimes cramped, panels feature huge blasts of fire or energy, intricately detailed giant robots, weirdly eyeless monsters, and wild escapades aplenty to keep the pace’s pedal to the metal. Aliens and AIs in the cast come in a variety of hues, elves are a uniform gray, and except for a brief encounter between Emily and a slightly darker lad, the (uncursed) humans default to white.
Kibuishi gives his epic tale a hefty nudge toward its long-building climax while giving readers plenty of reasons to stick around for it. (Graphic fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-545-85002-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
Delivers entertaining hijinks and fresh Twittery.
The Twits rise again, as revolting as ever, to play and be the victims of further gooey, gluey pranks.
This follow-up to 2023’s Wonka, inspired by Roald Dahl’s sourball satire, stirs plenty of characters as well as riffs and references from the 1980 original into a storyline that pits the mutually abusive titular twosome against Mr. and Mrs. Lovely, new neighbors who are stubbornly dedicated to making the world a nicer place. As it turns out, good intentions only go so far. After Mr. Twit endangers 10-year-old twins Ruff and Tumble Lovely by tricking them into climbing the Big Dead Tree, an escalating prank war ensues. In a lovely nod to Judith Kerr, the chapter “The Tiger Who Came for Breakfast” features a mistreated circus tiger, acquired from a contact the Twits have retained from their circus training days, who quickly becomes a Lovely pet, rather than gobbling them up as intended. The authors drop in a few major twists, liberal quantities of garbage and glue, stomach-churning foods, and alliterative imprecations (“Jiggly…jabbering…jam head!” “mean, mangy, mumbling MOO COW!”), and savage just deserts once again play significant roles. In Jones’ energetic and humorous illustrations, Mr. Lovely reads Black, and Mrs. Lovely appears white; racially and culturally diverse crowds witness the crabby white-presenting Twits’ climactic comeuppance.
Delivers entertaining hijinks and fresh Twittery. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2024
ISBN: 9780593692622
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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