A most admirable troll, notwithstanding the big floppy ears and flyaway orange hair.
Beleaguered middle school troll Zarf gets a chance to show his true mettle when the Big Bad Wolf’s motorcycle-riding minions take the Littlepig family hostage in this sequel to The Trouble with Weasels (2014).
Following a mysterious local mutton shortage and a wild chase after an ungainly substitute math teacher who turns out to be a wolf in an ill-fitting sheep suit comes news that Littlepig Manor has been taken over. Zarf goes pelting to the rescue—temporarily disguised, thanks to an inexpertly applied body-switching spell, as a wolf. Harrell tells the tale Wimpy Kid–style with punch lines, much of the dialogue, and snarky asides (not to mention sight gags and significant looks) delivered by a cast of deadpan cartoon figures. Significant help from allies, notably dreamboat classmate Sierra Scarlet and Goldie Locks, a lunch lady with several unusual skills, leads at last to a dramatic escape and, for Big Bad, a long spell in a “maximum-security dungeon.” Before and after all the heroics, Zarf shrugs off a steady barrage of anti-troll pranks instigated by royal classmate Prince Roquefort (“a jerky little snot-basket”), and along with showing fair measures of courage and smarts, in the clutch he also keeps a firm handle throughout on the anger issues that beset his trollish kind.
A most admirable troll, notwithstanding the big floppy ears and flyaway orange hair. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8037-41041
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato.
The new kid in school endures becoming the school mascot.
Ben Hardy has never cared for potatoes, and this distaste has become a barrier to adjusting to life in his new Idaho town. His school’s mascot is the Spud, and after a series of misfortunes, Ben is enlisted to don the potato costume and cheer on his school’s team. Ben balances his duties as a life-sized potato against his desperate desire to hide the fact that he’s the dork in the suit. After all, his cute new crush, Jayla, wouldn’t be too impressed to discover Ben’s secret. The ensuing novel is a fairly boilerplate middle–grade narrative: snarky tween protagonist, the crush that isn’t quite what she seems, and a pair of best friends that have more going on than our hero initially believes. The author keeps the novel moving quickly, pushing forward with witty asides and narrative momentum so fast that readers won’t really mind that the plot’s spine is one they’ve encountered many times before. Once finished, readers will feel little resonance and move on to the next book in their to-read piles, but in the moment the novel is pleasant enough. Ben, Jayla, and Ben’s friend Hunter are white while Ellie, Ben’s other good pal, is Latina.
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11866-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Cinematic, over-the-top decadence, a tense race against time, and lessons on what’s truly valuable.
A reward of $5,000,000 almost ruins everything for two seventh graders.
On a class trip to New York City, Felix and Benji find a wallet belonging to social media billionaire Laura Friendly. Benji, a well-off, chaotic kid with learning disabilities, swipes $20 from the wallet before they send it back to its owner. Felix, a poor, shy, rule-follower, reluctantly consents. So when Laura Friendly herself arrives to give them a reward for the returned wallet, she’s annoyed. To teach her larcenous helpers a lesson, Laura offers them a deal: a $20,000 college scholarship or slightly over $5 million cash—but with strings attached. The boys must spend all the money in 30 days, with legal stipulations preventing them from giving anything away, investing, or telling anyone about it. The glorious windfall quickly grows to become a chore and then a torment as the boys appear increasingly selfish and irresponsible to the adults in their lives. They rent luxury cars, hire a (wonderful) philosophy undergrad as a chauffeur, take their families to Disney World, and spend thousands on in-app game purchases. Yet, surrounded by hedonistically described piles of loot and filthy lucre, the boys long for simpler fundamentals. The absorbing spending spree reads like a fun family film, gleefully stuffed with the very opulence it warns against. Major characters are White.
Cinematic, over-the-top decadence, a tense race against time, and lessons on what’s truly valuable. (mathematical explanations) (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-17525-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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