Delightfully silly, but the pig in the teeny hat needs a bigger part next time.
Evie, Sebastian, the Explorers Society, and the pig in the teeny hat are back in this sequel to The Door in the Alley (2017).
This second installment opens in what the narration avows is the worst possible place: on the edge of a volcano with a new character who has nothing to do with the previous book’s cliffhanger. Benedict Barnes is a former member of the infamous Filipendulous Five, a group of explorers that was kicked out of the Explorers Society after a tremendous disaster. Following this inconvenient introduction, the story resumes with Sebastian on a helicopter with his kidnappers while Evie tries to convince the society’s leaders to fund a rescue mission. Sebastian can lead the bad guys to a purported fountain of youth, the very place the Filipendulous Five were trying to find when disaster struck; Barnes is the kidnappers’ next target, and if Evie can find him, she can save Sebastian. As Evie travels to Australia, Sebastian escapes his nefarious captives and accidentally and then on purpose joins a K-pop band in Seoul. Another oh-so-annoying—and literal—cliffhanger leaves readers breathlessly awaiting the next adventure. The self-aware, third-person narration switches between Evie and Sebastian, always maintaining the same metafictive humor and goofy, sometimes-ranting, footnote-style asides as the previous book. Most characters appear to be of white European origin with the exception of the K-pop band’s Korean members; Ruby and Thom, Australian Aborigines who befriend and assist Evie in her quest; and Benedict, depicted as a black man.
Delightfully silly, but the pig in the teeny hat needs a bigger part next time. (Adventure. 8-13)Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-101-94009-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Full of puzzles to think about, puns to groan at and references to children’s book titles, this solid, tightly plotted read...
When a lock-in becomes a reality game, 12-year-old Kyle Keeley and his friends use library resources to find their way out of Alexandriaville’s new public library.
The author of numerous mysteries for children and adults turns his hand to a puzzle adventure with great success. Starting with the premise that billionaire game-maker Luigi Lemoncello has donated a fortune to building a library in a town that went without for 12 years, Grabenstein cleverly uses the tools of board and video games—hints and tricks and escape hatches—to enhance this intricate and suspenseful story. Twelve 12-year-old winners of an essay contest get to be the first to see the new facility and, as a bonus, to play his new escape game. Lemoncello’s gratitude to the library of his childhood extends to providing a helpful holographic image of his 1968 librarian, but his modern version also includes changing video screens, touch-screen computers in the reading desks and an Electronic Learning Center as well as floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stretching up three stories. Although the characters, from gamer Kyle to schemer Charles Chiltington, are lightly developed, the benefits of pooling strengths to work together are clear.
Full of puzzles to think about, puns to groan at and references to children’s book titles, this solid, tightly plotted read is a winner for readers and game-players alike. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-87089-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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