Fans of swashbuckling adventures will find much to enjoy. Just watch out for that inevitable sequel.
A cursed temple? Magical jewels? Hungry hippos? A bumbling captain? Adventure ahoy!
On a family vacation in Brazil, 12-year-old book connoisseur Mike Gonzalez does his best to protect his rambunctious 8-year-old sister, Dani, from the dangers of thrill-seeking. Enter Capt. Kevin Adventureson, an overconfident, pun-loving adventurer seeking fabled treasure deep in the Amazon. When the siblings inadvertently get swept up in Capt. Kevin’s antics, Mike longs to escape the captain’s orbit at every turn, while Dani can’t get enough of her newfound hero. A detour leads to clashes with villainous thieves, and soon enough the trio is joined by Aruna, a feisty former waitress with a secret. As the quartet pushes further into the Amazon, the makeshift heroes must narrowly overcome their adversaries, including ghastly caimans, dastardly rogues, and, of course, Capt. Kevin’s bungling whims. With backgrounds in child-oriented television franchises, Peterson and Pruett deliver a pulpy, screwball novel that emphasizes action, danger, and humor over authentic exploration of Brazil. Chapters vary between Mike’s and Dani’s points of view via third-person narration, providing emotional plateaus as necessary, and sporadic journal entries from Capt. Kevin—a sort of deconstructed Indiana Jones—add some levity at critical points. Ajhar’s dynamic illustrations introduce each chapter and appropriately set the tone for what follows: a journey spiked with absurdity. A racially diverse, seemingly mostly non-Brazilian cast is implied but not confirmed.
Fans of swashbuckling adventures will find much to enjoy. Just watch out for that inevitable sequel. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: May 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-00847-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The story would have a real chance on its own merits without these really appallingly bad episodes. (Fantasy. 8-12)
Of course this will sell—as an E.B. White item and one that the publishers are pushing hard, playing it for an adult as well as a juvenile sale.
And that is where I think it really belongs, along with Robert Lawson's books, which reach children chiefly through adults. Thurber was another, but more justifiable on the score of a nice quality of whimsy, which Stuart Little—for me at least—lacks. This seems to me pseudo-fantasy, synthetic, and lacking the tenderness that makes a story such as Wind In The Willows wholly the children's own. Undertones and overtones of this story of a mouse in a human family are unjuvenile on all counts. The central story follows the make-believe as Stuart, complete with hat, cane, pin-striped trousers, and a stout heart, embarks on his small odyssey—a hairbreadth escape in a window shade (victim of a jealous cat), high seas exploits in Central Park, near tragedy in a garbage scow. Then comes the complete flop of the schoolroom episode and the romance.
The story would have a real chance on its own merits without these really appallingly bad episodes. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 1945
ISBN: 978-0-06-026396-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1945
PERSPECTIVES
Readers will gobble this down and look for more, make no mythtake.
Promising myth-adventures aplenty, this kickoff episode introduces young Zeus, “a very special, yet clueless godboy.”
After 10-year-old Zeus is plucked from his childhood cave in Crete by armed “Cronies” of the Titan king, Cronus, he is rescued by harpies. He then finds himself in a Grecian temple where he acquires a lightning bolt with the general personality of a puppy and receives hints of his destiny from an Oracle with fogged eyeglasses. Recaptured and about to be eaten by Cronus, Zeus hurls the bolt down the Titan’s throat—causing the king to choke and then, thanks to an alert Crony’s Heimlich maneuver, to barf up several previously eaten Olympians. Spooning in numerous ingredients from the origin myth’s traditional versions, the veteran authors whip up a smooth confection, spiced with both gross bits and contemporary idiom (“ ‘Eew!’ a voice shrieked. ‘This is disgusting!’ ”) and well larded with full-page illustrations (not seen). One thorough washing later, off marches the now-cocky lad with new allies Poseidon and Hera, to rescue more Olympians in the next episode.
Readers will gobble this down and look for more, make no mythtake. (Fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-5787-4
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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