Solid adventure fare.
Half-Inuit Alaskan Nick, 15, finds adventure with his older, white half brother Ryan on a National Geographic photographic expedition in Yukon Territory.
Nick’s discovery of a grizzly/polar bear hybrid at the very outset of the book sets the stage for a nonstop survival adventure. Extremely aggressive and predatory, the 900-pound bear becomes a symbol of the frightening consequences that occur in the wild due to human meddling in the environment. On the expedition, one possible disaster after another occurs, and Nick and Ryan have to cope with them all, relying on knowledge of the terrain and the best survival techniques of both cultural heritages. Narrator Nick’s voice is consistent, befitting his upbringing in the small town of Aklavik. The geography of the area and climate are well-delineated, becoming an integral part of the story. The final confrontation is a bit far-fetched, but readers who have stuck with the story that far will likely not care. “Man vs. nature” is a recognizable subgenre of adventure stories, but Hobbs skillfully inserts an eco-conscious twist, asking readers and characters to recognize that in this case, “nature” is man-made.
Solid adventure fare. (Adventure. 11-16)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-170878-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2012
Happy and (more or less) logical resolution aside, thin Soup.
A once-entertaining tale about a widowed inventor who goes on the lam with his three above-average children (until he can finish building a time machine to dispel an ancient family curse and prevent his wife’s murder) drags its way to a conclusion.
Having taken care of the curse in the middle episode, Another Whole Nother Story (2010), "Soup" evidently finds that even with extensive padding—including an irrelevant flashback chapter and bit parts for the uncommonly intrusive author/narrator himself and his deaf mother—the culminating rescue makes only half a book. Accordingly, the author fills out the page count with a long and aimless stopover for the time-traveling Cheeseman family. This takes place in Some Times, an interdimensional mashup of eras, places and seasons where the Cheeseman children get glimpses of their futures from a worshipful descendent. Meanwhile, their father, convinced he’s Gioachino Rossini after a knock to the head, furiously (re)composes the William Tell Overture. The Dave Barry–like flurries of sententious tangents that previously added refreshing interludes of silliness to the storyline come across here as dull and labored, as do the heavy-handed caricatures of various corporate and government pursuers who are the tale’s villains.
Happy and (more or less) logical resolution aside, thin Soup. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59990-824-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Food for thought here about varieties of motivation, though with too many unanswered questions and a sudden, resolution-free...
In this loosely woven series setup, a relentlessly ordinary lad who has taught himself to juggle is kidnapped by the owners of a traveling medicine show.
Repeatedly drawn to jovial pitchman Master Melville’s horse-drawn wagon, 11-year-old Sullivan finally nerves himself to crawl into a box on stage as the magician’s volunteer. When he wakes up, the wagon has traveled on, and he’s locked inside with three young performers who are likewise kidnap victims. In a beguiling if startlingly unlikely development, Sullivan soon develops such strong familial ties with the rest of the troupe and becomes so wrapped up in developing and practicing a compelling juggling act, that he puts any plans to escape or even to contact his family on hold. Meanwhile, the general belief back home that Sullivan drowned in the nearby river leads two schoolmates to organize a memorial celebration, while Sullivan’s stubborn little sister Jinny sets out with an octogenarian ally to prove he’s still alive. Fagan cuts his three-stranded tale off abruptly, leaving these plotlines in midair—but readers willing to go with the flow will at least get a glimmer of how Sullivan could become so distracted from his most obvious purpose by the profound inner rewards of acquiring a difficult physical skill.
Food for thought here about varieties of motivation, though with too many unanswered questions and a sudden, resolution-free ending that is more annoying than tantalizing. (Adventure. 11-13)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-75268-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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