A fresh, funny adventure and the best installment in the series so far.
In the third book of the middle-grade Chelldrah-Ham series, von Clinkerhoffen (The Hidden City of Chelldrah-ham: War of Chaos, 2015, etc.) brings its protagonists to a different world: Earth.
After following the evil human Anet through a rift to her home planet, Stig and Meg (aliens known as Manna) are astonished by their new surroundings. Earth is populated by giants who talk into mysterious black boxes, drive “strange enclosed carts,” and arm themselves with “fire sticks.” Although the two Manna are invisible to most humans, it’s not long before they find themselves hunted by “smelly copters” in the sky and police officers on land. As they try to shake their pursuers, they steal from a bar, scare people in a church, and accidentally wreak havoc on the English countryside in misadventures that include vehicular crashes and explosions. In between, they follow a series of obscure clues leading to an ancient, golden temple underground, which guards the entrance to their homeworld. With the help of allies, both human and Manna, they try to defeat Anet before she unleashes an army of mutant creatures on the Manna and plunders their city’s gold. Nothing breathes new life into a series like a change in setting, and von Clinkerhoffen plays up the dramatic irony of the two Manna viewing the human world from the outside, with frequently humorous results. For instance, Stig and Meg refer to television as “ohnomorerepeats,” having heard humans use that phrase repeatedly. By now, the author’s habit of italicizing sound effects is no longer distracting; instead, the clunks and whirs merely draw attention to Stig’s mechanical obsession. As in the previous books, the Manna encounter various vehicles and machinery, and von Clinkerhoffen discusses in depth how they work, which some young readers might find tedious. Aspiring mechanics or engineers, though, will enjoy solving problems right along with Stig.
A fresh, funny adventure and the best installment in the series so far.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5395-1542-5
Page Count: 256
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Plays to Rowling’s fan base; equally suited for gifting and reading aloud or alone.
A 7-year-old descends into the Land of the Lost in search of his beloved comfort object.
Jack has loved Dur Pig long enough to wear the beanbag toy into tattered shapelessness—which is why, when his angry older stepsister chucks it out the car window on Christmas Eve, he not only throws a titanic tantrum and viciously rejects the titular replacement pig, but resolves to sneak out to find DP. To his amazement, the Christmas Pig offers to guide him to the place where all lost Things go. Whiffs of childhood classics, assembled with admirable professionalism into a jolly adventure story that plays all the right chords, hang about this tale of loss and love. Along with family drama, Rowling stirs in fantasy, allegory, and generous measures of social and political commentary. Pursued by the Land’s cruel and monstrous Loser, Jack and the Christmas Pig pass through territories from the Wastes of the Unlamented, where booger-throwing Bad Habits roam, to the luxurious City of the Missed for encounters with Hope, Happiness, and Power (a choleric king who rejects a vote that doesn’t go his way). A joyful reunion on the Island of the Beloved turns poignant, but Christmas Eve being “a night for miracles and lost causes,” perhaps there’s still a chance (with a little help from Santa) for everything to come right? In both the narrative and Field’s accomplished, soft-focus illustrations, the cast presents White.
Plays to Rowling’s fan base; equally suited for gifting and reading aloud or alone. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-79023-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A captivating adventure about the strength of love and family.
A Nigerian city girl visits her estranged grandmother in a remote village and is confronted with family secrets.
Thirteen-year-old Simi has only known Lagos—until her mother needs to go to London for work. Her parents are divorced, and Simi can’t stay with her perpetually busy father, so she is reluctantly shipped off to spend her summer vacation with her maternal grandmother in Ajao, a remote village with no modern technology. Soon after her exhausting journey by bus and taxi, Simi goes for a walk and is drawn to go the wrong way—into the forest and toward a forbidden lake, where she is briefly transported to a different world, something she at first believes is a dream. Although her staunchly Christian mother does not want her exposed to the Yoruba gods and goddesses her grandmother follows, Simi later learns a story that is connected to her family about Oshun, the river and water goddess. As more children are lured toward the lake, Simi feels compelled to come forward and risk everything to heal the wounds in her family and help the village that has come to feel like home. Traoré’s debut is brimming with earnest, admiring details about Yoruba culture and traditions that are woven into the worldbuilding. As Simi’s fast-paced adventure unfolds, readers will be swept away by the limited omniscient narration in this plot-driven story with a strong sense of place.
A captivating adventure about the strength of love and family. (author's note, glossary) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-78192-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
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