by Sarah Cross ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2009
Teenager Avery Pirzwick flies around town each night looking for crimes to stop and people to help with his super strength. He wants to do good with these secret powers that have so messed up his life. He’s had to quit wrestling to keep from hurting his opponents, and his parents’ checkbook has taken a hit for damages incurred. When Cherchette Morozov, an odd European woman with powers of her own, offers to help, Avery wonders if she’s his savior. That’s thrown into doubt when he befriends Darla, Sophie and Nicholas, who have their own secrets, and super-intelligent Darla is certain Cherchette is no Charles Xavier of X-Men fame. Soul searching, teen angst and super-battles (with humor) ensue. Cross’s first is a funny teen–super-team origin story…without an awful lot of action. Avery’s sarcastic, self-deprecating narration is a highlight, as is the strange array of superpowers. The characters’ normal, goofy interactions are the focus until the page-turning finale. A good bet for all teen sections—just not all superhero fans. (Fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-525-42133-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2009
Share your opinion of this book
More by Sarah Cross
BOOK REVIEW
by Sarah Cross
BOOK REVIEW
by Sarah Cross
by Karen Cushman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 14, 2006
It’s 1949, and 13-year-old Francine Green lives in “the land of ‘Sit down, Francine’ and ‘Be quiet, Francine’ ” at All Saints School for Girls in Los Angeles. When she meets Sophie Bowman and her father, she’s encouraged to think about issues in the news: the atomic bomb, peace, communism and blacklisting. This is not a story about the McCarthy era so much as one about how one girl—who has been trained to be quiet and obedient by her school, family, church and culture—learns to speak up for herself. Cushman offers a fine sense of the times with such cultural references as President Truman, Hopalong Cassidy, Montgomery Clift, Lucky Strike, “duck and cover” and the Iron Curtain. The dialogue is sharp, carrying a good part of this story of friends and foes, guilt and courage—a story that ought to send readers off to find out more about McCarthy, his witch-hunt and the First Amendment. Though not a happily-ever-after tale, it dramatizes how one person can stand up to unfairness, be it in front of Senate hearings or in the classroom. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-618-50455-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2006
Share your opinion of this book
More by Karen Cushman
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Ransom Riggs ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 7, 2011
A trilogy opener both rich and strange, if heavy at the front end.
Riggs spins a gothic tale of strangely gifted children and the monsters that pursue them from a set of eerie, old trick photographs.
The brutal murder of his grandfather and a glimpse of a man with a mouth full of tentacles prompts months of nightmares and psychotherapy for 15-year-old Jacob, followed by a visit to a remote Welsh island where, his grandfather had always claimed, there lived children who could fly, lift boulders and display like weird abilities. The stories turn out to be true—but Jacob discovers that he has unwittingly exposed the sheltered “peculiar spirits” (of which he turns out to be one) and their werefalcon protector to a murderous hollowgast and its shape-changing servant wight. The interspersed photographs—gathered at flea markets and from collectors—nearly all seem to have been created in the late 19th or early 20th centuries and generally feature stone-faced figures, mostly children, in inscrutable costumes and situations. They are seen floating in the air, posing with a disreputable-looking Santa, covered in bees, dressed in rags and kneeling on a bomb, among other surreal images. Though Jacob’s overdeveloped back story gives the tale a slow start, the pictures add an eldritch element from the early going, and along with creepy bad guys, the author tucks in suspenseful chases and splashes of gore as he goes. He also whirls a major storm, flying bullets and a time loop into a wild climax that leaves Jacob poised for the sequel.
A trilogy opener both rich and strange, if heavy at the front end. (Horror/fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59474-476-1
Page Count: 234
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Ransom Riggs ; illustrated by Andrew Davidson
More by Ransom Riggs
BOOK REVIEW
by Ransom Riggs ; illustrated by Jim Tierney
BOOK REVIEW
by Ransom Riggs
BOOK REVIEW
by Ransom Riggs ; illustrated by Andrew Davidson
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.