Personal development, Three Stooges style.
The hazards of wish fulfillment come, as usual, home to roost when young Barry gets a chance to replace his parents with a new set.
A week before his 10th birthday, Barry hits his head in a fall and wakes in Youngdon, capital of the United Kid-Dom, where grown-ups eagerly vie to be selected by onesie-wearing children. Working down a previously compiled list of grievances against his original parents, Barry opts to try out a different set each day—and so goes from the dizzyingly aristocratic Rader-Wellorffs to a celebrity couple dubbed “Vlassorina” and a succession of other couples who let him try out sports and do whatever he wants, as well as openly favoring him over younger sibs who bear strong resemblances to his own sisters. Predictably, all prove disappointments, and he wakes up at the end a wiser, more loving son. Baddiel crams his pointed allegory with jokes that not only will likely fly past American readers, but display questionable taste: Barry dubs his sisters “The Sisterly Entity” in imitation of the hostile Arabic term for Israel, a teammate’s “Que pasa?” as he trots into Wobbly Stadium for a match with rival Boysnia-Herzogeweeny is dubbed “some kind of weird language,” and for his birthday party at the end he’s delighted to get a toy pistol.
Personal development, Three Stooges style. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-240544-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
The Baudelaire children—Violet, 14, Klaus, 12, and baby Sunny—are exceedingly ill-fated; Snicket extracts both humor and horror from their situation, as he gleefully puts them through one terrible ordeal after another. After receiving the news that their parents died in a fire, the three hapless orphans are delivered into the care of Count Olaf, who “is either a third cousin four times removed, or a fourth cousin three times removed.” The villainous Count Olaf is morally depraved and generally mean, and only takes in the downtrodden yet valiant children so that he can figure out a way to separate them from their considerable inheritance. The youngsters are able to escape his clutches at the end, but since this is the first installment in A Series of Unfortunate Events, there will be more ghastly doings. Written with old-fashioned flair, this fast-paced book is not for the squeamish: the Baudelaire children are truly sympathetic characters who encounter a multitude of distressing situations. Those who enjoy a little poison in their porridge will find it wicked good fun. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-440766-7
Page Count: 162
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
A satisfying, winning read.
Nick Hall is a bright eighth-grader who would rather do anything other than pay attention in class.
Instead he daydreams about soccer, a girl he likes, and an upcoming soccer tournament. His linguistics-professor father carefully watches his educational progress, requiring extra reading and word study, much to Nick’s chagrin and protest. Fortunately, his best friend, Coby, shares his passion for soccer—and, sadly, the unwanted attention of twin bullies in their school. Nick senses something is going on with his parents, but their announcement that they are separating is an unexpected blow: “it’s like a bombshell / drops / right in the center / of your heart / and it splatters / all across your life.” The stress leads to counseling, and his life is further complicated by injury and emergency surgery. His soccer dream derailed, Nick turns to the books he has avoided and finds more than he expected. Alexander’s highly anticipated follow-up to Newbery-winning The Crossover is a reflective narrative, with little of the first book’s explosive energy. What the mostly free-verse novel does have is a likable protagonist, great wordplay, solid teen and adult secondary characters, and a clear picture of the challenges young people face when self-identity clashes with parental expectations. The soccer scenes are vivid and will make readers wish for more, but the depiction of Nick as he unlocks his inner reader is smooth and believable.
A satisfying, winning read. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-57098-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
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