Quick, clean fun; no crampons needed. (Action/adventure. 8 & up)
An armchair-adventurer franchise goes to Everest.
The premise is familiar: Readers engaged in a video-game–like scenario face a series of decisions. At each challenging juncture choices must be made. Do this and turn to page… Do that, and you’ll discover you’re doomed. Readers become members of the youngest team to ever scale Mt. Everest. Those that trouble to study the backmatter will receive some pithy advice from climbing expert Morton (who has successfully scaled Everest multiple times.) It is wise to heed that advice. The team consists of three young teens, three experienced climbers and the sponsor, a video-game–company owner, all of whom are just lightly sketched—it’s all about the plot. Most of them will almost seductively offer you opportunities to make major mistakes. Realistically, the errors made on the approach to Everest are generally forgiven: a quick recovery period then back to climbing. Those made higher up may be lethal. Brief text sections are accompanied by an occasional short graphic section consisting of five or six frames of action-filled art. Readers that make cautious choices will be rewarded by reaching the summit, but it’s easy to be led astray, and only a path or two through the minefield of mistakes will result in full success—although there are quite a few amusing ways to fail without actually dying.
Quick, clean fun; no crampons needed. (Action/adventure. 8 & up)Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8118-7123-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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
A spectacular return to a magical world.
Following the events of Impossible Creatures (2024), a devoted Guardian teams up with a brave princess to fight her power-hungry uncle and save the Archipelago’s dragons from a strange new threat.
Jacques the dragon summons Christopher Forrester back to the Archipelago from the human world: Dragons are dying, and no one knows why. Meanwhile, on the island of Dousha, Princess Anya’s grandfather, King Halam, has been murdered, and her father accused—though she knows he’s innocent. When Christopher and Anya take refuge on the islet of Glimt, the Berserker Nighthand helps them see how their twin missions to save the dragons and free Anya’s father are connected. They work together to create an antidote for the poison that’s killing the dragons and to keep Anya and her father safe from her murderous uncle. Meanwhile, Nighthand and Irian, the part-nereid ocean scholar, pursue their own important secret mission. Divided into three parts—“Castle,” “Dragons,” and “Revenge”—and containing elements of fairy tales, fantasy, and Shakespeare, this story continues the storyline established in the series opener, yet because it introduces new characters and obstacles, it could also stand alone. Dark-blond Anya (“five feet tall and all of it claws”) is a match for white-presenting Christopher, who, though he still misses Mal, finds that “it made a difference to have someone to move through the world with again. A friend changed the feel of the universe.” Mackenzie’s delicate, otherworldly art adorns the text.
A spectacular return to a magical world. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-15)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780593809907
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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