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 richly atmospheric page-turner—readers will eagerly anticipate the forthcoming sequel.
Young Seren Rhys stands on the cusp of a new life. Unfortunately for her, the train to her new life is late.
Following the death of her aunt, who saved her from her 12-year stay at the orphanage, she receives word that her godfather, Capt. Arthur Jones, will take her in. Seren spends her wait dreaming of the Jones family and their surely bustling, welcoming manor, Plas-y-Fran in Wales. An encounter with a mysterious man and his more mysterious wrapped parcel (containing the eponymous mechanical bird) leaves Seren reeling, and the mysteries multiply when she arrives at Plas-y-Fran. The place is shuttered and cold, nearly deserted but for a few fearful, oppressively unforthcoming servants. The captain and his wife are away; of their young son, Tomos, there is neither sign nor sound. With the Crow as her only, if reluctant, ally, Seren soon finds herself enmeshed in mayhem and magic that may prove lethal. In her characteristic style, Fisher crafts an elaborate fantasy from deceptively simple language. Seren is a sharp, saucy narrator whose constant puzzlement at others’ consternation over her impertinence provides running amusement. Supporting characters are fascinating if ambiguous players, not so much poorly drawn as poorly revealed, perhaps casualties of the quick pace. The deadened manor, however, provides the perfect backdrop for preternatural forces. Characters are presumed white.
A richly atmospheric page-turner—readers will eagerly anticipate the forthcoming sequel. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1491-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
Enigmatic enemies, sabotage, space travel, and short, bone-wracking bits of time travel make for a banging adventure.
All remaining humans are leaving Mars for a distant planet, but departure day goes sideways.
The “burning husk” of Earth fell into the sun five years ago, and Mars is about to become uninhabitable. The Scorpius leaves today with the last 100 million passengers. Thirteen-year-old Liam’s sad to go: he was born on Mars and identifies as a Martian, unconcerned that his Earth heritage is “Thai, Irish, Nigerian, Texan, and like ten more.” His parents and his friend Phoebe’s parents are rushing the final research for terraforming their destination planet when a radioactive explosion, complete with mushroom cloud, blows the lab to bits. The Scorpius departs with Liam’s sister and the 100 million aboard, leaving Liam, Phoebe, and a highly skilled robot functionally alone (their parents are alive but unconscious)—can they catch the Scorpius? Emerson’s story is fast, exciting, and terrifying, involving spacecraft of many sizes, travel through space, more explosions, an alien gadget that shows Liam the near future (and that extraterrestrials exist! Humans hadn’t known), and some shadowy characters. Who’s the blue ET chronologist murdered in Scene 1? Who’s trying to exterminate humankind, and why? How many unrelated ET groups are out there? A stunning reveal at the end will leave readers gasping for the next installment.
Enigmatic enemies, sabotage, space travel, and short, bone-wracking bits of time travel make for a banging adventure. (Science fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-230671-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
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