An amusing and engaging Choose Your Own Adventure–style romp with an unusually cerebral slant.
The arrival of two bumbling time travelers in 79 CE Pompeii sets off an eruption of problems to solve and diverging plotlines to follow.
Kitted out with wristwatch escape devices that allow them to make hasty escapes to the present, nervous wolf Romy and her owl companion, Remus, are sent on missions to keep the past from being changed in unpredictable ways. In this series opener, their mission is to persuade famous-historians-to-be Catticus (aka Tacitus) and Pliny to flee in time from doomed Pompeii so that they can survive to write their famous works. Along with frequent invitations to make plot choices for the clueless pair and flip back and forth to see the consequences, the ensuing romp is punctuated by side puzzles that challenge readers to plot coordinates on a map, navigate mazes, spot differences between sets of nearly identical figures or scenes, match historical events to their dates, and similar brain teasers. Bigwood’s comical cartoons reinforce the genially slapdash air of the proceedings and contribute to a sense of place through details that evoke the Roman Empire, such as amphorae, frescoes, an elephant in a toga, and an octopus with a head of classically curly hair. Collins’ closing notes add further information about the featured historical figures and sites.
An amusing and engaging Choose Your Own Adventure–style romp with an unusually cerebral slant. (glossary, answer key) (Adventure. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781837252091
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Buster Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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