The plot is uneven, but mild surprises and bright colors will appeal to reluctant female readers
The Thea Sisters uncover a conspiracy to destroy the environment during the heated competitions for student-club presidencies.
Mouseford Academy’s two student clubs, Lizard Club for girls and Gecko Club for boys, are selecting new presidents. Each club’s candidates compete in three competitions—“brainpower, crafts, and sports”—and the mouse with the most points at the end wins. The Gecko candidates are athletic Craig, nerdy Shen and mysterious Vic de Vissen. On the girls’ side, when Vanilla, Vic’s sister (and fellow child of the antagonist from The Secret of Whale Island, 2013), learns the Thea Sisters’ friend Dina is competing for the Lizard presidency, she decides to cheat so her friend Alicia can win the post instead and use it to trouble the Thea Sisters. The third Lizard candidate is cheerful Tanya. The stakes of the contest are vague; tension relies on the readers’ willingness to believe the cheaters might win. During the last event, seal pups covered in a mysterious, scented, pink substance appear on the island—evidence of chemical contamination. The Thea Sisters spearhead an investigation to catch the culprits dumping pollution into the ocean and find a familiar source. While there are too many characters for all to have distinguishing personalities, the varied character designs help readers keep them straight.
The plot is uneven, but mild surprises and bright colors will appeal to reluctant female readers . (Graphic fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59707-430-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
A classic sibling rivalry tale that still satisfies to the last drop.
In this graphic novel adaptation of Davies’ 2007 book, hurt feelings propel an intense business battle.
Fourth grader Evan can’t stand the thought of his brainy younger sister, Jessie, skipping a grade and joining his class this fall. Intelligent but emotionally immature, Jessie sometimes misses social cues and wishes she could be more like the gregarious Evan. These insecurities set the stage for a contest to see who can raise the most money selling lemonade this summer. Will Jessie’s book smarts beat Evan’s people skills? The beauty of this story lies in how each sibling’s strengths rub off on the other: Evan brushes up on his math, while Jessie tentatively makes a new friend. De la Vega’s polished cartoon artwork creatively translates Davies’ metaphors to a visual medium. When the author compares the “mean words inside Evan…fighting to get out” to bats, illustrations depict the furry animals emerging from beneath his shirt; Jessie’s negative thoughts take the form of a tiny purple creature irritatingly tapping her shoulder. Tender scenes depict flashbacks of the siblings supporting each other through their parents’ divorce. The book has business savvy to match the emotional beats (each chapter opens with an entrepreneurial definition that relates to the plot), and several scenes feature math problems that readers can solve for themselves. Evan and Jessie appear white; both have friends of color.
A classic sibling rivalry tale that still satisfies to the last drop. (business tips) (Graphic fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780063310407
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Silly and inventive fast-paced fun
A zippy graphic-novel series opener featuring two comically bumbling reptile detectives.
As agents of SUIT (Special Undercover Investigation Team) with customized VESTs (Very Exciting Spy Technology) boasting the latest gadgetry, the bright green InvestiGators Mango and Brash receive their newest assignment. The reptilian duo must go undercover at the Batter Down bakery to find missing mustachioed Chef Gustavo and his secret recipes. Before long, the pair find themselves embroiled in a strange and busy plot with a scientist chicken, a rabid were-helicopter, an escape-artist dinosaur, and radioactive cracker dough. Despite the great number of disparate threads, Green manages to tie up most neatly, leaving just enough intrigue for subsequent adventures. Nearly every panel has a joke, including puns (“gator done!”), poop jokes, and pop-culture references (eagle-eyed older readers will certainly pick up on the 1980s song references), promising to make even the most stone-faced readers dissolve into giggles. Green’s art is as vibrant as an overturned box of crayons and as highly spirited as a Saturday-morning cartoon. Fast pacing and imaginative plotting (smattered with an explosion here, a dance number there) propel the action through a whimsical world in which a diverse cast of humans live alongside anthropomorphized reptiles and dinosaurs. With its rampant good-natured goofiness and its unrelenting fizz and pep, this feels like a sugar rush manifested as a graphic novel.
Silly and inventive fast-paced fun . (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21995-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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