Riordan’s third installment of Magnus Chase’s adventures careens through the Nine Worlds in a boat called the Big Banana.
The plot almost passes as a typical Riordan adventure: main quest, side quests, happy ending, new disaster looming in the future. But here, one quest confronts the evil lurking within wealthy white suburban men (well, elves). Genderfluid Alex creates a nonbinary clay warrior, drawing on her indigenous Mexican family history. Samirah’s Ramadan fast lends her focus and clarity. The villain is still Loki, but readers might see similarities to other morally corrupt leaders putting selfish interests ahead of marginalized people and their allies—with a silent, inscrutable wife at his side. No one is perfect; there’s a throwaway fat joke, and Riordan could work on refining the sign language deaf elf Hearthstone uses, which is called American Sign Language but in description is different enough to frustrate. But black, deaf, trans, Muslim, white, homeless, and formerly homeless readers will see characters like themselves cracking jokes and caring for one another, with identities that are crucial to success rather than a distraction or side issue. The climax, a deeply emotional testament to the power of community, could leave some in tears.
Riordan is again fighting for a revolution in middle-grade fiction with his funny, whiplash-fast writing and deep moral convictions. (Fantasy. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4231-6093-9
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2017
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Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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