Exactly what’s to be expected when you take candy from five-eyed purple extraterrestrials.
An investigative journalist saves his school from a fate worse than lunch.
“Jonny Jakes” (not his real name) has little trouble keeping his identity as publisher and chief reporter of the scandal sheet Woodford Word from his infuriated principal, Mr. Hardy. The stakes soar, though, when Hardy is replaced by “Mr. Jones,” a seemingly benign alien from the planet Huurl who passes out addictive, mind-altering candy followed by special hamburgers that instantly add rolls of fat to all who eat them. And soon everybody (including parents) has fallen under his spell except for light-skinned Jonny and recruited confederates Norris Morris and Julie Singh, both dark-skinned. What’s Jones’ game? The burgers also have the effect of producing, as Jonny puts it, “Gas. Both ends”—a phenomenon that’s not only described in loving detail, but fits nicely into a tale that also features blobby purple people eaters, gray food that smells like sweaty socks, references to puke and snot, clandestine meetings in boys’ and girls’ bathrooms, casual violence, and a climactic food fight that splatters the lunchroom with “chocolate fudge, raspberry bits, and luminous alien guts.” Along with a side dish of butt crack, Brown serves up cartoon images of secret messages, headlines, revealing photos, and characters. Though it’s a British import, the book’s action has been relocated to Massachusetts and the text Americanized.
Exactly what’s to be expected when you take candy from five-eyed purple extraterrestrials. (Science fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4965-2680-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Stone Arch Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...
The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-59643-750-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
A clever, magical romp, overflowing with high drama and low humor.
In this second series entry, blue-freckled foundling Spella De-broom Cauldroneyes and friends take an exciting shopping trip to Mummy City—arriving just in time to help save the world.
Gathering up both her shy best friend, Tolden Tutters (whose dragon, Softfang, serves as his hearing aid), and the many fantastical hats of her green-skinned guardian witch, Mathilda Cauldroneyes, 8-year-old Spella leaves jolly Hungry Snout Forest for the big city. There, the disappearances of a certain very powerful old cauldron and a rising number of the city’s residents signal that trouble’s beginning to bubble. (“Toothless Toz is ten feet tall and smells of old cheese…His arm fell off in 3356 BC and was never found again, so he used a feather duster in its place.”) As it happens, Stonescare, a “frightful, mean wizard,” has recruited some scary allies for a new scheme. Readers fond of stories filled with silly names, ingenious spellcasting both helpful (a sandwich-dispensing cardigan pocket) and otherwise (screaming farts), and engaging magical creatures (booger-eating purple unicorns, tree wart trolls quaintly collecting roozle wart for their morning tea) will echo Spella’s favorite expression of delight—“toadfire!”—at the many comical twists. They’ll also appreciate the summary way the fledgling wand-wielder sends a pair of sneering bullies packing. The ending promises more adventures to come. Final art not seen.
A clever, magical romp, overflowing with high drama and low humor. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665955348
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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