by Timothy Root ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 27, 2024
A zany and often hilarious kids’ adventure with a sharp protagonist.
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In this children’s adventure series starter, a young boy is tasked with a mission to rescue his little brother and save the world from an evil doctor.
Benjamin Impossible has an impressive list of accomplishments. He’s not only a genius; he’s also won the Franklin County hot dog eating contest three years running, and he was once named Preteen magazine’s Boy of the Year. Most people are more familiar with his family members, however. His brother, Charlie, is a 2-year-old prodigy who speaks perfect English and knows 17 programming languages; his mother is Doctor Impossible, who runs the family business, Impossible Incorporated, “the largest invention company in the world”; and his father is Professor Impossible, the inventor of hyper-helium, a gas that has “five hundred times the lifting force of regular helium” and powers the family’s home—a flying pirate ship. When someone steals an expensive hyper-helium shipment from NASA, the Impossibles head to Florida to investigate. They soon find the sinister Doctor Glockenspiel, who kidnaps Charlie and demands the hyper-helium formula in exchange for his return. Now it’s up to Benjamin, along with his robotic dog NOAH (“Non-Offensive Autonomous Hound”) and U.S. Air Force liaison Capt. Lemonthyme, to rescue his sibling and stop Doctor Glockenspiel before he can enact his plan to take over the planet. Root masterfully employs snappy, humorous writing to spin a plot that never drags; it also never feels over-the-top, despite the wacky, outrageous things that occur. The book has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments; at one point, for instance, Benjamin, while running from a robot shark, tells his family to take off in the ship, but they mistakenly think he’s calling for a dance-off, so they activate “disco mode.” Benjamin has a fun collection of gadgets, from Ultra-Pacifiers that can put people to sleep to gas blasters and exploding candy. He’s smart enough to make even NASA employees seem unimpressive, and charming enough to keep readers engaged from start to finish.
A zany and often hilarious kids’ adventure with a sharp protagonist.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9780989750134
Page Count: 322
Publisher: REN Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Aubrey Hartman ; illustrated by Christopher Cyr ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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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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