A free-ranging feline catalyzes community reaction in this pointed warning about the dangers of blindly obeying authority. Dazzled by Jeremiah Hoytie’s magisterial appearance and bluff bonhomie, not to mention the free hot chocolate suddenly available at his gourmet deli, the contented residents of aptly named Felicity-By-The-Lake elect him mayor—only to find themselves victims of a power-hungry schemer and saddled with a dusk curfew plus other restrictive fiats. The citizens grumble, but Hoytie institutes a reign of terror, ordering his 7-foot-tall, 287-pound son Sam to grab scofflaws by their ankles and bring them in to pay fines. Returning to his birthplace after a long wander, Ulwazzer, a cat distinguished by fur that is sometimes one color, sometimes another, finds the people huddling in their houses, and the wildfowl on the lake (those that have survived Sam’s indiscriminate blasting) huddling in the reeds. It’s time to take matters into his own paws. Bauer (The Strange and Wonderful Tale of Robert McDoodle, 1999, etc.) heads the human cast with a familiar type: Daria, a kind young orphan girl forced to do all the Hoyties’ cooking, housework, and storekeeping. Ultimately, she and Ulwazzer cleverly nudge the townsfolk into rising up to send the Hoyties packing. The carpetbaggers’ pop-eyed cupidity comes through clearly in Raglin’s occasional pen-and-ink caricatures. As farce, this is not in the same league with Dahl or Mahy, but Hoytie’s stupid, selfish wife Prucilla provides some low comedy, and readers will relish seeing her, and her family, get what they deserve. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-385-32710-2
Page Count: 197
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
A sixth grader finds the road to popularity a rocky one in this undisguised problem novel. In Warner's first book, Case tries to keep his head down in his new school—above all, he doesn't want anyone to find out that his father is in jail for robbery—but when the satiric comic panel he draws for an English project proves popular, he begins to enjoy the attention. A series of missteps puts him deep in the doghouse, though; at home he ``borrows'' some of his little sister's stuffed animals for an art project, while at school, after snubbing his friend and unacknowledged coworker Ned, he falls in with the schemes of classmate Tyler to sell the comic, and gets suspended for a week. The maturity Case subsequently exhibits in calmly accepting blame comes on rather suddenly, and his problems at school are neatly and predictably resolved. Warner surrounds Case with patient, caring, advice-dispensing adults, and supplies five crudely drawn comics that mix cheap shots at fathers and school lunch servers with sophisticated ideas—feeling trapped at school, or the anxiety of getting lost in the halls. The author models responsible and irresponsible behavior, in adults and children both, but overloads the story with lessons and stressful situations. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: April 3, 1995
ISBN: 0-679-87147-0
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Christopher (``Rob'') Robin's opinion of his family is low; he cringes at things (e.g., a precocious little sister) that most readers his age would find minor, especially compared to other junior-high humiliations; and he mightily exaggerates his troubles with a hulking eighth-grade bully and with his inability to return, without incident, the obvious interest of an older, female student. No matter. His narration as the oldest child of a surfer-dude father and a children's book mail-order business mother zings along, carrying readers through ordeals from which he sallies forth, ultimately, with admirable ease. As a result of his telling off his sister Winnie—who impersonates characters from the books she's reading—she invents a game that's about to make her a millionaire. Meanwhile, Rob stands up to the bully and starts believing in happily-ever-afters. Scanty on plot, and not for the mentally overcompensated, but very funny. (Fiction. 11- 13)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-590-44805-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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