A quirky wonder about truth, perseverance, and the vagaries of fame. In Melville, Kansas, located at the geographic center of the country, an unnamed 11-year-old boy discovers a fossil unlike any ever excavated before. It appears to be the remains of a garden-variety Cretaceous-era mosasaur—Kansas is littered with the remnants of these denizens of an erstwhile inland sea—contained within the belly of an enormous skeletal whale, whose vastness dwarfs modern whales. Our narrator does not start out in pursuit of fame (his original intent was to dig a pond for a water garden), but he is not unaware of the ramifications of his discovery: “[it] would put me in the natural history books for sure, right alongside Darwin [and] Crichton . . .” What follows is an often-hilarious battle for ownership (and bragging) rights for the fossil, with our hero pitted against Fossil Expert from the State Museum, a fearsome nemesis indeed. Jennings (Orwell’s Luck, 2000) draws a delightful portrait of this remarkably determined and self-contained child, who declares early on, “A hole is an achievement. A great hole is a great achievement. I was going to dig a great hole.” The cast of secondary characters is equally engaging, from the boy’s father (who is ready to sell his backyard to the highest bidder) and the redoubtable Fossil Expert, to Tom White Cloud and Miss Whistle (the sympathetic Native American bookstore owner and the beautiful science teacher) to Phil, the Solitary Duck. (“When it comes to conversation, a duck is every bit as good as a dog.”) There is nothing stale about this book; from start to finish, it is every bit as much of an original as Kansascetus humongous himself. (Fiction. 9-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-10228-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2001
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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