Steampunk fans will enjoy the action-packed, takes-itself-seriously silliness
A former jewel thief acrobatically attempts to rescue an entire circus while one corner of her love triangle chases her down in a ruby-powered airship and villains build evil mechanical armies.
A French circus performer and wanted criminal, Rémy has gone straight since her previous steampunk adventures (The Diamond Thief, 2014). Instead of stealing jewels, she makes a living as a wire-walker on the London stage (spicing up her life by rescuing the gentry from highwaymen, all while wearing a painted mask and a visible corset). She's happy enough living with her best friend, a guttersnipe engineer who blends the faux-Cockney of Bert from Mary Poppins with an ahistorical touch of vaudeville. When Rémy's tentative suitor, a handsome teenage policeman, doubts her reformation (mind-reading gem powers aren't all they're cracked up to be when they let a girl know her love's not-always-supportive thoughts), she flounces off to France in a rage. But not a one of her old circus friends is truly the person Rémy thought she knew: Some are villains, while others are storybook victims. The usual larger-than-life steampunk fare (automaton armies, airships, goggles and corsets) sits alongside magic jewels that enable telepathy or produce lighter-than-air gas. And of course, there are plenty of secrets held in reserve for the next book, promising revelations both personal and epic in scale.
Steampunk fans will enjoy the action-packed, takes-itself-seriously silliness . (Steampunk. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-63079-004-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Switch/Capstone
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
Here’s hoping Watson’s teen debut will be followed by many more.
The summer before Maya and Nikki’s senior year of high school brings new challenges as their previously all-black neighborhood becomes attractive to other ethnic groups.
The twins, while still close, have been changing in recent years and now find they have very different views about the changes. Nikki is delighted with improvements in their surroundings, but Maya is concerned they come at too steep a price. When their best friend’s family is displaced, the rift deepens: Maya wants to maintain their connection to Essence, while Nikki has become close to newcomer Kate. Nikki may even be abandoning their long-held plan to attend Spelman College together. Their new principal appears willing to sacrifice many of the traditions the African-American students hold dear. And though Maya and Devin are a long-established couple, Maya finds herself drawn to Kate’s brother, Tony, despite her misgivings about interracial dating. Eventually, the students find a way to reach across the divides and honor the community’s past while embracing its changing present. Maya’s straightforward narration offers an intriguing look at how families and young people cope with community and personal change. Maya and her friends are well-drawn, successful characters surrounded by a realistic adult supporting cast. Readers may be surprised to find this multicultural story set in Portland, Oregon, but that just adds to its distinctive appeal.
Here’s hoping Watson’s teen debut will be followed by many more. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5999-0668-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Without that frame, this would have been a fine addition to the wacked-out summer-camp subgenre.
Survival camp? How can you not have bad feelings about that?
Sixteen-year-old nerd (or geek, but not dork) Henry Lambert has no desire to go to Strongwoods Survival Camp. His father thinks it might help Henry man up and free him of some of his odd phobias. Randy, Henry’s best friend since kindergarten, is excited at the prospect of going thanks to the camp’s promotional YouTube video, so Henry relents. When they arrive at the shabby camp in the middle of nowhere and meet the possibly insane counselor (and only staff member), Max, Henry’s bad feelings multiply. Max tries to train his five campers with a combination of carrot and stick, but the boys are not athletes, let alone survivalists. When a trio of gangsters drops in on the camp Games to try to collect the debt owed by the owner, the boys suddenly have to put their skills to the test. Too bad they don’t have any—at all. Strand’s summer-camp farce is peopled with sarcastic losers who’re chatty and wry. It’s often funny, and the gags turn in unexpected directions and would do Saturday Night Live skits proud. However, the story’s flow is hampered by an unnecessary and completely unfunny frame that takes place during the premier of the movie the boys make of their experience. The repeated intrusions bring the narrative to a screeching halt.
Without that frame, this would have been a fine addition to the wacked-out summer-camp subgenre. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4022-8455-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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