A fine middle volume, lit up with “laughs and tears and the occasional fart joke.” (wig information and quiz appended)...
Aspiring detective/veterinarian/artist Anastasia McCrumpet’s escape from vile St. Agony’s Asylum leads to radical changes of fortune, status, mission, and even name in this revelation-packed sequel to The League of Beastly Dreadfuls (2015).
Having been taken to the subterranean city of Nowhere Special (beneath the Swiss Alps), Anastasia learns not only that she’s a princess of the royal Merrymoon family, but that her grandfather Nicodemus has a special tattoo that could help her find her missing father. But Nicodemus too is missing—locked in an invisible casket at the start of a centuries-old war between witches and the shape-changing Morfolk. Calling on all the sleuthing skills learned from her fictional heroine Francie Dewdrop and hardly slowed by either snotty cousin Saskia or her own “tragic flatulence,” Anastasia sets out in search of clues to the eponymous Deed through a dizzying array of gleefully baroque distractions. Clues indeed do turn up, along with both old and new members for Anastasia’s allied League of Beastly Dreadfuls, awful hazards like thought-eating “mooncooties,” and many references to poop, vomit, waffles, bats, cupcakes with glow-in-the-dark mushroom filling, silly powdered wigs, and like diversions. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fine middle volume, lit up with “laughs and tears and the occasional fart joke.” (wig information and quiz appended) (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-385-37025-7
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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