Sixth grader Randy spots a dog tied to a tree in a sleet storm and resolves to help, but after visiting it, he realizes it's being seriously abused. Although he reports the cruelty to the police, he’s told that without proof of abuse, which he must collect, they cannot intervene. The appearance of a ghost dog determined to push Randy into saving the animal—and some encouragement from a friend—finally motivate him to rescue the dog by stealing it and hiding it away. Later, after being found out by his mother, she reluctantly becomes the dog’s official foster parent, even as they are being stalked by its violent owner. The ghost dog makes several appearances, each time presciently guiding Randy. A lecture he (bizarrely) receives in school on “evidence to look for if we think someone has a methamphetamine lab on their property,” plays a major role in the conclusion, one of several too-convenient aspects of the resolution. Readers eager for ghosts and suspense may enjoy this only-average, sometimes improbable effort. (pattern for animal-shelter cat blanket, Web resources on ghosts and animal cruelty) (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-525-42178-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
Some may feel that the climactic eco-revenge is carried a bit far, but it’s a splashy startup with a promising premise.
With help from an array of friendly wildlife, a band of summer campers stages a rescue and stymies a ruthless harvester of shark fins in this series opener.
Twelve-year-old Tristan joins other newbie Seasquirts invited to a sea park in the Florida Keys and is delighted to discover not only that he can talk to sharks, but his new camp mates are endowed with similarly unusual abilities. These range from porpoiselike echolocation to hagfish-style “mucus deployment skills.” These are all quickly put to the test when a trio of older camp teens is captured by a gang of “finners” in the Bahamas. The hastily planned rescue features a massive poop attack from flocks of birds, a bit of lock picking by an intrepid octopus and exhausting treks over land and sea to evade thugs on jet skis. Though sometimes a little too human—sharks talk to Tristan in West Indies accents: “Mon, we no want to eat your bony butt!”—the sea life, along with reefs, bioluminescence and other marine wonders, is generally depicted by Prager, a marine scientist, in accurate, vivid detail. The story’s color and energy fade in the wrap-up chapter, which is largely explication, but overall, there’s more than enough action and humor to pull readers along.
Some may feel that the climactic eco-revenge is carried a bit far, but it’s a splashy startup with a promising premise. (maps) (Adventure. 10-12)Pub Date: May 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-938063-44-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Scarletta Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lightweight tale of odds overcome; too bad the unusually talkative supporting cast shoulders most of the load and shines...
Turning an apparently real incident into spun sugar, Godwin sends a Spanish feral cat, trapped and transported far from home, on a feline odyssey.
A Dumpster’s lode of tasty prawns nearly spells Poohka’s downfall as, after being swept into a sanitation truck, he is at last ejected, his front leg crushed, in a distant tip. Carrying anthropomorphism to an extreme, the author surrounds him with allies ranging from a crew of helpful rats to a kindly cork tree named Señor Arbol, who talks him out of his despair and provides him with a verbally abusive owl to guide him on the long road back to the gated community from which he came. So vivid are these characters that they command more attention than poor Poohka. Over the course of his journey, he is rescued from the clutches of Señora Bruja, a comically revolting witch who munches on raw mouse while fattening Poohka up for dinner, makes friends with a young mouse and clicks with Pequita, a friendly female cat who later follows him home. His weary, hobbling journey comes to an end at last when he is adopted by a human couple and, after a long convalescence at the vet’s, settles into a new life as a three-legged house cat. In contrast to the story, the many small ink drawings scattered throughout are fairly realistic (except that Poohka’s injury is barely visible).
A lightweight tale of odds overcome; too bad the unusually talkative supporting cast shoulders most of the load and shines more brightly than the supposed protagonist. (Animal fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: March 31, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-909428-23-2
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Digital Leaf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
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