Broad comedy, full of monsters and lighthearted fun.
Wendell “Waffles” Wyler and his grandfather return in a second madcap homage to B-movie monster films.
The book opens with a recap of the events from The Monstrous Adventures of Mummy Man and Waffles (2024), making this sequel accessible to new fans. Grandpa Wendell, formerly a special effects and makeup artist for “spooky movies,” kept props and models stored in his Shriekport, Maine, basement until a flood led to the activation and unfortunate release of the monsters. Now the dastardly Doctor Gargo has reconstituted himself and escaped with the Brain and the Measle Weasels in tow, headed to Hollywood to unleash more nefarious monsters on the world. Traveling via Monster Car, our heroes follow a trail of red polka dots left by the Measle Weasels on a cross-country road trip to fend off disaster. Medusa joins Grandpa, Waffles, Tanya (Waffles’ best friend), and the earnest Mummy Man and his pet turtle, Frank, on the race to intercept Doctor Gargo and stop his nefarious plan. Encounters en route with the Hoboken Werewolf, the Tornado With a Face, and other creatures threaten the mission. The result is a funny, breathless series of challenges for the motley crew before nearly everything turns out okay in the end (with a setup for the next adventure). The human characters read white. Final art not seen.
Broad comedy, full of monsters and lighthearted fun. (recipe) (Humor. 8-11)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9780063254879
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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