This clever spy adventure features a likable hero and bursts with enough film references to satisfy all but the most...
When 16-year-old Spencer’s cousins decide to investigate their mysterious grandfather, Spencer is not sure he wants any part of it. But when his brother, Bunny, is kidnapped by a radical political faction from the tiny backward nation of Pianvia, he quickly finds he is involved, like it or not.
For Spencer, a budding filmmaker who harbors a secret desire to be James Bond, the cloak-and-dagger spy world is a perfect fit. However, he quickly finds out that being a spy is a lot harder than he thought. With his parents away, it is up to Spencer, his crush-worthy friend, AmberLea, and her infuriatingly perfect friend Toby to find the missing Pianvian anthem, save a teeny-bopper pop star from a would-be assassin and rescue Bunny, all while trying not to get arrested or even killed. Spencer’s story is one of seven linked tales, each following a different cousin on his quest to find the truth about their grandfather. Part 007 and part Mr. Bean, Spencer is the perfect combination of nerdy secret agent and bumbling, lovesick teen. Surprising twists, dangerous foes and a generous helping of mac ’n’ cheese make for a suspenseful mystery with a hint of romance.
This clever spy adventure features a likable hero and bursts with enough film references to satisfy all but the most hard-core movie buffs. (Mystery. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4598-0549-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
Well-educated American boys from privileged families have abundant options for college and career. For Chiko, their Burmese counterpart, there are no good choices. There is never enough to eat, and his family lives in constant fear of the military regime that has imprisoned Chiko’s physician father. Soon Chiko is commandeered by the army, trained to hunt down members of the Karenni ethnic minority. Tai, another “recruit,” uses his streetwise survival skills to help them both survive. Meanwhile, Tu Reh, a Karenni youth whose village was torched by the Burmese Army, has been chosen for his first military mission in his people’s resistance movement. How the boys meet and what comes of it is the crux of this multi-voiced novel. While Perkins doesn’t sugarcoat her subject—coming of age in a brutal, fascistic society—this is a gentle story with a lot of heart, suitable for younger readers than the subject matter might suggest. It answers the question, “What is it like to be a child soldier?” clearly, but with hope. (author’s note, historical note) (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58089-328-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones. (Autobiographical fiction. 11-13)
An exhilarating summer marked by death, gore and fire sparks deep thoughts in a small-town lad not uncoincidentally named “Jack Gantos.”
The gore is all Jack’s, which to his continuing embarrassment “would spray out of my nose holes like dragon flames” whenever anything exciting or upsetting happens. And that would be on every other page, seemingly, as even though Jack’s feuding parents unite to ground him for the summer after several mishaps, he does get out. He mixes with the undertaker’s daughter, a band of Hell’s Angels out to exact fiery revenge for a member flattened in town by a truck and, especially, with arthritic neighbor Miss Volker, for whom he furnishes the “hired hands” that transcribe what becomes a series of impassioned obituaries for the local paper as elderly town residents suddenly begin passing on in rapid succession. Eventually the unusual body count draws the—justified, as it turns out—attention of the police. Ultimately, the obits and the many Landmark Books that Jack reads (this is 1962) in his hours of confinement all combine in his head to broaden his perspective about both history in general and the slow decline his own town is experiencing.
Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones. (Autobiographical fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-37993-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
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