by Patrick Carman ; illustrated by Brian Sheesley ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016
A gas, despite a sour whiff in the supporting cast and a plotline that’s not quite topped off.
In this effervescent startup, Harold discovers that the soda pop his dad invented produces more than just awesome belches.
Harold is invited as a 10th birthday present to tour at last the secret underground lab/factory where his loving but distracted adoptive father manufactures the wildly popular (and sugar free!) Fuzzwonker Fizz. He is delighted to discover that the process makes not only froth, but Fizzies—popeyed creatures who, not unlike Oompa-Loompas, cheerfully live and toil in the subterranean community of Fizzopolis. Disaster nearly ensues when Harold recklessly takes Floyd, a small green Fizzy with a truly short attention span, to school. After several misadventures, Floyd is carried off to the rival Snood Candy Factory by archenemy Garvin Snood. Will the Snoods, makers of the heavily sugared Flooze, foundation for dozens of ghastly-sounding products, pull the tab on Fizzopolis and the secret formula for Fuzzwonker Fizz? No, as it happens, but another explosive secret does pop before the episode’s abrupt cutoff. Stay tuned. Sheesley splashes silly cartoon sketches through Harold’s sugar rush of a narrative.
A gas, despite a sour whiff in the supporting cast and a plotline that’s not quite topped off. (Adventure. 8-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-239390-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Patrick Carman ; illustrated by Brian Sheesley
More by Patrick Carman
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Patrick Carman ; illustrated by Brian Sheesley
BOOK REVIEW
by Rebecca Bond ; illustrated by Rebecca Bond ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2015
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
Share your opinion of this book
More by Rebecca Bond
BOOK REVIEW
by Rebecca Bond ; illustrated by Salley Mavor
BOOK REVIEW
by Rebecca Bond ; illustrated by Rebecca Bond
BOOK REVIEW
by Rebecca Bond ; illustrated by Rebecca Bond
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 2015
Another epic outing in a graphic hybrid series that continues not just to push the envelope, but tear it to shreds.
Pranksters George and Harold face the deadliest challenge of their checkered careers: a supersmart, superstrong gym teacher.
With the avowed aim of enticing an audience of “grouchy old people” to the Waistband Warrior’s latest exploit, Pilkey promises “references to health care, gardening, Bob Evans restaurants, hard candies, FOX News, and gentle-yet-effective laxatives.” He delivers, too. But lest fans of the Hanes-clad hero fret, he also stirs in plenty of fart jokes, brain-melting puns, and Flip-O-Rama throwdowns. After a meteorite transforms Mr. Meaner into a mad genius (evil, of course, because “as everyone knows, most gym teachers are inherently evil”) and he concocts a brown gas that turns children into blindly obedient homework machines, George and Harold travel into the future to enlist aid from their presumably immune adult selves. Temporarily leaving mates and children (of diverse sexes, both) behind, Old George and Old Harold come to the rescue. But Meaner has a robot suit (of course he has a robot suit), and he not only beats down the oldsters, but is only fazed for a moment when Capt. Underpants himself comes to deliver a kick to the crotch. Fortunately, gym teachers, “like toddlers,” will put anything in their mouths—so an ingestion of soda pop and Mentos at last spells doom, or more accurately: “CHeffGoal-D’BLOOOM!”
Another epic outing in a graphic hybrid series that continues not just to push the envelope, but tear it to shreds. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-50492-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
Share your opinion of this book
More by Dav Pilkey
BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
BOOK REVIEW
by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.