by T.R. Burns ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2012
Perhaps once the series is complete, this will be something to recommend.
Mischief has its rewards, especially at Kilter Academy.
Twelve-year-old Seamus Hinkle was a good student, a good kid, with a spotless record. Then during a brawl in the cafeteria, he wings an apple at a substitute teacher, hoping to startle her out of intervening and thus save her from near-certain injury—and kills her. He's sent to Kilter Academy for Troubled Youth. After his parents drop him off, Seamus finds things at Kilter aren't what they seem. It's a school to train professional Troublemakers. Pulling one over on the young faculty earns demerits, which equal credits at the Kommissary. Ratting on fellow students earns gold stars, which correspondingly reduce credit at the Kommissary. Weighed down with guilt, Seamus vows to be good, but he keeps inadvertently scaring or making a fool of his teachers and earning demerits. Why does the school’s enigmatic director have such confidence in Seamus? Will he ever feel comfortable letting his new friends know why he’s at Kilter? Burns’ (who’s also Tricia Rayburn, Siren, 2010) series starter has an interesting premise and some enjoyable moments. However, there are far too many loose ends at volume's close for this to be a satisfying read in itself. While Seamus’s turmoil is believable, he and the rest of the cast are a bit underdeveloped. The lack of solutions to the several mysteries make this more of a turn-off than a page-turner.
Perhaps once the series is complete, this will be something to recommend. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: April 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4029-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
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by Dav Pilkey & illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 2012
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey
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by Dav Pilkey ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey ; color by Jose Garibaldi & Wes Dzioba
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by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Patricia Castelao ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
Certain to steal hearts.
In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary.
She’s apprehensive about her Tuskday, a rite of passage for young elephants when she’ll give a speech in front of the rest of the herd. Luckily, she can confide in her Uncle Ivan, who is next door in Gorilla World, and Uncle Bob, the dog who lives nearby with human friend Julia. Ruby was born in an unspecified part of Africa, later ending up on display in the mall, where she met Ivan, Bob, and Julia. The unexpected arrival of someone from Ruby’s past life on the savanna revives memories both warmly nostalgic and deeply traumatic. An elephant glossary and Castelao’s charming, illustrated guide to elephant body language help immerse readers in Ruby’s world. Goofy, playful, and mischievous Ruby is fully dimensional, as she has shown her bravery during the many hardships of her young life. Applegate deftly tempers themes of grief and loss with compassion and humor as Ruby finds her place in the herd. The author’s note touches on climate change, the illegal ivory trade, and conservation efforts, but the highly emotive framing of the story through the memories of a bewildered baby elephant emphasizes the impact of lines such as “ ‘in Africa,’ I say softly, ‘there were bad people,’ ” without offering readers a nuanced understanding of the broader context that drives poaching.
Certain to steal hearts. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780063080089
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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