A confusing tangle of myth and history, slow going to boot, despite corpses and bombs aplenty.
The third episode in Laurie’s muddled Oracles of Delphi Keep series adds two more children with super powers, bringing the total to five of the prophesied seven (plus One) who will save the world from the satanic Demogorgon.
Following one of a series of obscure prophecies left by an ancient seer, Ian, with his fellow orphans of “the United” and adult chaperones, arrive in Paris on a rescue mission just as the invading Nazis do. There they hook up with more cast members—notably Adrastus the Secret Keeper, a Phoenician soldier charged with depositing the prophecies and various items of magical gear in hidden places for the United to seek out. The children survive bomb attacks, fend off Caphiera the Cold and Atroposa the Terrible (two of Demogorgon’s four evil offspring) and return without much difficulty to England. Then it’s off to Berchtesgaden to round up Wolfgang, an abused lad who can read and control people’s thoughts (except when inconvenient to the plot), and battle Demogorgon’s minions some more. The author fills in some background with flashbacks but mostly assumes that readers will have a general picture of the quest and characters from past volumes. As before, she relies heavily on oracular visions, overheard conversations and coincidental meetings to move events along, and she seldom strays far from conventional gender roles for her characters.
A confusing tangle of myth and history, slow going to boot, despite corpses and bombs aplenty. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-73861-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2011
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
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when...
Two sisters make an unauthorized expedition to their former hometown and in the process bring together the two parts of their divided family.
Dooley packs plenty of emotion into this eventful road trip, which takes place over the course of less than 24 hours. Twelve-year-old Ophelia, nicknamed Fella, and her 16-year-old sister, Zoey Grace, aka Zany, are the daughters of a lesbian couple, Shannon and Lacy, who could not legally marry. The two white girls squabble and share memories as they travel from West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, where Zany is determined to scatter Mama Lacy’s ashes in accordance with her wishes. The year is 2004, before the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and the girls have been separated by hostile, antediluvian custodial laws. Fella’s present-tense narration paints pictures not just of the difficulties they face on the trip (a snowstorm, car trouble, and an unlikely thief among them), but also of their lives before Mama Lacy’s illness and of the ways that things have changed since then. Breathless and engaging, Fella’s distinctive voice is convincingly childlike. The conversations she has with her sister, as well as her insights about their relationship, likewise ring true. While the girls face serious issues, amusing details and the caring adults in their lives keep the tone relatively light.
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when Fella’s family figures out how to come together in a new way . (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16504-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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