A clever plot, taut writing, and sophisticated emotional themes bring a remarkable depth to this sequel.
Returning to the late-19th-century world of Spineless (2022), readers join siblings Lulu and Frankie Davenport along with best friend Algie Emsworth as they reunite in Florida for a summer that doesn’t turn out as expected.
Home after a tedious term at boarding school, 12-year-old Lulu can’t wait to go sailing. But 13-year-old Frankie isn’t being great company, their father is distracted, and Algie has gotten a job at the general store to help his family out financially. On top of that, Lulu hears an eerie wailing and is made uneasy by rumors that 200-year-old pirate queen Capt. Ale is haunting the town. When Lulu meets Vic Cazador, a boy her age whose father is a customs officer, things fortunately take an upturn. Vic is blind from a bout of measles two years previously, and as he and Lulu bond over their shared lack of confidence—Vic because his controlling father is overprotective and Lulu because Frankie is so competent—they support each other while learning about their own strengths. The plot is original and surprising, with themes about belief in oneself and sibling rivalry that stay true to the age of the audience; the story also incorporates well-presented ideas about morality, ethics, family, and the frailties of adults. Lulu and Frankie are white and Cuban American; Algie is white, and Vic is Cuban American.
A clever plot, taut writing, and sophisticated emotional themes bring a remarkable depth to this sequel. (author’s note) (Historical adventure. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781454954170
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
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 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
An environmental mystery featuring lots of clever detecting, a bit of danger, and real felonies to investigate.
Toxic waste dumped in the Everglades gives a quartet of middle school sleuths their first case.
Leading Carl Hiaasen fans over familiar ground, Ponti pitches 12-year-old Alex Sherlock and his 13-year-old sister, Zoe, with school friends Lina and Yadi as sidekicks, into a summer caper. It all begins with the hunt for a supposed fortune buried decades ago by Al Capone, culminates in a narrow escape from an exploding yacht, and ultimately exposes a smooth-talking bad actor shady enough to bring in even federal authorities. As the kids’ live-in Grandpa, a retired investigative reporter, delivers pointers on how to conduct interviews and sift evidence while grandly driving them around South Florida in his classic Cadillac, Roberta, the budding detectives display sharp wits, eyes, and negotiating skills. The last come in particularly useful when they’re dealing with their lawyer…who’s also their mom. Both the plot and the chain of evidence take logical courses, and since Dad is a marine biologist and Lina’s a recent transplant from Wyoming, Ponti is able to use their dialogue to highlight the local culture and larger ecological issues. Main characters present white, apart from tech wiz Yadi, who is cued Latine.
An environmental mystery featuring lots of clever detecting, a bit of danger, and real felonies to investigate. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781665932530
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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