The three squabbling young time travelers introduced in Herbert’s Wormhole (2009) again save their future hometown from alien invaders. Real ones, this time.
A selective memory wipe has convinced Alex that the video-game monsters he and his buddies Herbert and Sammi had “killed” in the previous episode were real, and he's bored by the subsequent lack of AlienSlayer action. Accordingly, he rashly makes a jeering interstellar phone call to the hostile Klapthorians to schedule an annihilation of Earth. Suffused with satiric line drawings as well as direct and indirect homages to Captain Underpants, the ensuing antics zigzag happily. They take readers from this time to the next century, from Merwinsville to the Moon on the way to a suitably titanic battle with not one but TWO giant Klapthorian Death Slugs. (OK, one’s a parade balloon, but still.) Ultimately Alex comes to realize that even with a Mexican wrestling mask and a new moniker (see title) he’s not going to get by without a little help from his friends. A fine supporting cast consisting largely of squidlike, Aussie-accented “G’Daliens” and a supercomputer aptly dubbed the SarcasmaTron provide additional yuks. More lightweight farce, with a good chance of further sequels. (Science fiction. 7-11)
Pub Date: April 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-201218-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another uproarious romp that explores what it is to be good as well as do good.
The foursome of reformed villains returns with a new mission and new team member in a continued effort to repair their reputations in Blabey's (The Bad Guys, 2017) rollicking sequel.
This second installment opens with our would-be heroes, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha, fresh from their bold liberation of the local pound, finding that the media is not spinning in their favor. Accused of terrorizing rather than rescuing, the group (at least Mr. Wolf) refuses to admit defeat—"We're the GOOD GUYS here!"—and begins planning a new mission to free innocent chickens from their deplorable confinement in the Sunnyside Chicken Farm. But if the team can't work together—something all the more difficult with the team a little panicked by the addition of Legs (a friendly, tech-genius tarantula) and one of the group suspiciously excited to greet the chickens—a rescue mission may be all but impossible. Despite some language devaluing of mental diversity (“freak out,” “loco,” etc.) that may turn some readers off, Blabey once again deploys moral ambiguity to overall success, challenging fear as a justification for prejudice and mistakes as reasons to give up. The narrative has lost no comic momentum from first to second book, juxtaposing classic riffs on Mission Impossible and new visual gags unique to these delightfully wry characters.
Another uproarious romp that explores what it is to be good as well as do good. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91241-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Thought-provoking and charming.
A sophisticated robot—with the capacity to use senses of sight, hearing, and smell—is washed to shore on an island, the only robot survivor of a cargo of 500.
When otters play with her protective packaging, the robot is accidently activated. Roz, though without emotions, is intelligent and versatile. She can observe and learn in service of both her survival and her principle function: to help. Brown links these basic functions to the kind of evolution Roz undergoes as she figures out how to stay dry and intact in her wild environment—not easy, with pine cones and poop dropping from above, stormy weather, and a family of cranky bears. She learns to understand and eventually speak the language of the wild creatures (each species with its different “accent”). An accident leaves her the sole protector of a baby goose, and Roz must ask other creatures for help to shelter and feed the gosling. Roz’s growing connection with her environment is sweetly funny, reminiscent of Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. At every moment Roz’s actions seem plausible and logical yet surprisingly full of something like feeling. Robot hunters with guns figure into the climax of the story as the outside world intrudes. While the end to Roz’s benign and wild life is startling and violent, Brown leaves Roz and her companions—and readers—with hope.
Thought-provoking and charming. (Science fiction/fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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