Twelve-year-olds Aidan and Sally sail a tiny fishing boat across the English Channel and risk their lives rescuing trapped Allied soldiers from Dunkirk.
Aidan’s parents initially refuse to join the mission, claiming one son was enough to sacrifice to the war, but Aidan is determined. He and his friend Sally commandeer his parents’ boat and set sail across the English Channel, hoping to rescue his brother, George, and the other trapped soldiers from the advancing Axis troops. A missile breaches the hull, but spare lifejackets stuffed into the hole keep them afloat. Insufficient fuel, enemy planes, and the smoke-filled air further threaten their journey, but Aidan and Sally finally make the shore. They manage to ferry dozens of soldiers to waiting rescue ships, but George is nowhere to be found. Scenes alternate between the drama on the water and the desperate conditions on land. While the gore is kept to a minimum, death, injury, and peril are constant; despite this, however, the story lags. A glossary, a timeline of the rescue, and a brief overview of the war are included to give context. Aidan and Sally are brave, and the soldiers are honorable, making for a sympathetic cast—no characters of color are among it though, despite the presence of Indian troops at Dunkirk, making it an all-white one.
A mostly historically accurate, though not terribly engaging retelling of Operation Dynamo. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-22685-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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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 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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When a troubled runaway arrives in an isolated Chinese village where the moon has disappeared, he initiates a quest to find the missing orb and resolve his past.
Escaping from home in a merchant’s cart, Rendi’s abandoned in the Village of Clear Sky, where the innkeeper hires him as chore boy. Bad-tempered and insolent, Rendi hates Clear Sky, but he has no way of leaving the sad village where every night the sky moans and the moon has vanished. The innkeeper’s bossy daughter irritates Rendi. He wonders about the innkeeper’s son who’s disappeared and about peculiar old Mr. Shan, who confuses toads with rabbits. When mysterious Madame Chang arrives at the inn, her storytelling transports Rendi. She challenges him to contribute his own stories, in which he gradually reveals his identity as son of a wealthy magistrate. Realizing there’s a connection between Madame Chang’s stories and the missing moon, Rendi assumes the hero’s mantle, transforming himself from a selfish, self-focused boy into a thoughtful young man who learns the meaning of home, harmony and forgiveness. Lin artfully wraps her hero’s story in alternating layers of Chinese folklore, providing rich cultural context. Detailed, jewel-toned illustrations and spot art reminiscent of Chinese painting highlight key scenes and themes and serve as the focus of an overall exquisite design.
A worthy companion to Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009). (author's note, bibliography of Chinese folk tales) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-12595-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION
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