For Stilton readers who prioritize interpersonal relationships and friendship over mysteries and action.
The first book in the graphic-novel spinoff of the Thea Stilton chapter books, themselves spinoffs of the Geronimo Stilton franchise.
It’s a new school year at Whale Island’s Mouseford Academy for the Thea Sisters (not actual siblings but a group of friends centered around Thea Stilton). Written for fans of the Thea Stilton series, the book assumes familiarity with the characters and skips introductions. Two traditions mark the start of a new year—the school dance, which yields a subplot about the girls trying to find dates, and the arrival of whales at the island. But this year, a whale has broken the pattern by arriving early, swimming without the other whales and even attacking fishing boats. It’s up to the Thea Sisters to figure out why the whale is acting strangely and to solve the orca’s problem. The problem is connected to a celebrity cosmetics entrepreneur, a special guest to the school on account of her generous donation and her children’s enrollment as new students. The celebrity has an illegal, secret hobby—collecting sea life. Her hobby leads to a couple of footnotes with ocean-animal facts, though the story is more concerned with entertainment than education. The resolution comes far too easily in a short plot that is lacking in obstacles. Plot limitations notwithstanding, the colorful characters’ revealing body language and expressive faces keep even simple conversation scenes’ illustrations dynamic.
For Stilton readers who prioritize interpersonal relationships and friendship over mysteries and action. (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: April 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59707-403-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
If ever a new series deserved to go viral, this one does. (Graphic novel. 7-9)
The hilarious misadventures of a hapless young everylad who happens to be an amoeba.
Countering the (perceived, at least) girliness of their Babymouse series, the talented Holms turn to the microbial world for new graphic material. Like his revered comics hero, Super Amoeba, blobby Squish is determined to “do what’s right.” This turns out to be relatively easy when it’s his mooching buddy Pod suckering him into switching lunches or his relentlessly cheery classmate Peggy the paramecium (her every utterance trailed by a line of exclamation points!!!!!) begging him to come over after school to meet her new slime mold Fluffy. It's a lot harder when brutish bully Lynwood callously envelops and begins to digest the seemingly doomed Peggy for a snack. The siblings draw it Babymouse-style in thick lined cartoon panels with garish green highlights and dialogue balloons. Plenty of helpful arrows point out significant anatomical details (“Pseudopods”) or offer snarky side comments. The episode zips along to a climactic ugly (but just) surprise for Lynwood, then closes with an easily doable prank/science project involving a moistened slice of bread.
If ever a new series deserved to go viral, this one does. (Graphic novel. 7-9)Pub Date: May 24, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-84389-1
Page Count: 98
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Different plot, different format, same cast: Running in parallel to published chapter-book episodes such as Magic Pickle and the Planet of the Grapes (2007), this scenario-setter introduces the bulked-up cuke superhero. Blasting out of a lab hidden beneath the floor of feisty everylass Jo Jo Wigman, he propels himself into battle with the Brotherhood of Evil Produce—in particular the quick and canny Romaine Gladiator. “Weapon Kosher” (his codename) comes through of course, dispensing “Dill Justice” to all villains while JoJo takes on class princess Lu Lu Deederly on the side. Portraying the nonstop action with an effervescent blend of discrete panels and insets, Morse depicts his flying pickled protagonist with muscular arms and a “tasteful yet mysteriously revealing” star above a pair of ferociously squinting eyes. Evidently to make up the page count, the author tacks on a short yet silly encounter between Pickle and a lottery-winning bazillionaire who’s been transformed into a coconut, then closes with basic advice for aspiring cartoonists. Diverting and dill-ectable. (Graphic novel. 8-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-439-87995-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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