One last time: “stooky!” (Er, “fantastic!”) (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 9-12)
A daylong field trip without origami? Nostrul! Er, awful!
Tommy and his fellow seventh-grade Star Wars (and origami) fanatics are ready to go on the field trip they worked so hard to get reinstated in Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue (2014), but despite her softened stance, Principal Rabbski imposes a rule banning origami on the trip. Tommy and company open a new case file to chronicle how (or if) they will survive the trip. The students take turns narrating, recording the mistakes, the misunderstandings, the secret cellphones and secret origami…thankfully Dwight, customary custodian of Origami Yoda, brought plenty of lime fruit roll-ups to create Fruitigami Yoda. However, disbeliever Harvey has smuggled his evil origami Emperor Pickletine (with real pickle head) on the trip, and he’s Tommy’s bus buddy. Will Harvey drive him crazy? Will Tommy get to kiss Sara? Will Fruitigami Yoda be as helpful as his origami incarnation? And what of those standardized tests the students fought so hard against? The final Origami Yoda case file has all the answers! Angleberger closes his six-plus–volume (there is a companion origami manual with stories) series of doodle-filled Star Wars paeans with an enjoyable, funny and realistic denouement that nicely wraps up most of the series storylines. Age-appropriate boy-girl relationships add to the authenticity of the characters, who will soon be eighth graders.
One last time: “stooky!” (Er, “fantastic!”) (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0933-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride.
A new virtual-reality theme park goes haywire on a crowd of young victims, er, visitors in Alexander’s latest screamfest.
Having scored one of just 100 coveted preview tickets to a cutting-edge, kids-only venue dubbed ESCAPE, budding amusement park fan and designer Cody Baxter is looking forward to a life-changing experience. What he gets is more of a life-threatening one, as games and rides with names like Triassic Terror and Haunted Hillside not only pit him against a monster and then zombies—or sometimes a monster and zombies—as well as ruthless competing players, but seem tailored to play on individual personal terrors. And, in some never explained way, the VR quickly turns into real battles that inflict real wounds even as the real settings shift with sudden, dizzying unpredictability. Teaming up with loyal new friends Jayson Torn and Inga Andersdottir, the former described as being Japanese and White and the latter as Norwegian, Cody (who seems to default to White) struggles for survival, learning ultimately that ESCAPE was created by an evil genius with an ulterior motive who is convinced that he can teach children a salutary lesson. The plot’s no more logical in its twists and contrivances than the premise, but the author’s knack for spinning out nightmarish situations is definitely on display here as the tale careens toward a properly lurid outcome.
Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride. (Light horror. 9-12)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-26047-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
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