Clever, concise, and compelling.
A seventh grade slacker experiences a synaptic growth spurt.
Grabenstein returns with another fact-filled, puzzle-packed, multigenre romp. This new series stars Jake McQuade, a freckled White 12-year-old who’d rather play video games and schmooze than exert himself in the classroom or on the basketball court. Everything changes when Jake accidentally chows down a scientist’s jar of jelly beans imbued with Ingestible Knowledge, sending his IQ sky-high. Accompanied by brainiac buddies Grace Garcia, a Cuban American girl with a secret connection to Riverview Middle School, and Kojo Shelton, a Black science geek and aspiring detective, Jake soon finds himself navigating previously unimaginable scenarios. Sometimes the stakes are local: say, the Riverview Pirates’ Quiz Bowl competitions. Sometimes they’re a bit larger, like working with the Pentagon on military intelligence or cracking an interstate robbery on behalf of the FBI. All the while, malevolent school principal Patricia Malvolio is scheming with her uncle, real estate tycoon Heath Huxley, to bulldoze the school and erect a condominium, a project funded by a pirate treasure. Can Jake and his pals save their school—or is his brain blast bound to burn out? As always, Grabenstein’s cast is more defined by caricature than characterization, and the collective is far stronger than any of its constituent parts. High-paced humor offsets nerdy digressions while light commentary on public education and academic effort lends a veneer of thoughtfulness.
Clever, concise, and compelling. (puzzles) (Humor. 9-13)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-64778-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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