Charming characters abound in this tale that’s thoughtfully grounded in ethics.
Young teens face fearful challenges as they try to right the wrongs of others.
Thirteen-year-old orphan Hattie Swift lives and works in the magical paradise of Hotel Majestica, a resort located in a sanctuary for fantastical creatures in the land of Ruava. When Evelyn Ridgewell, the disagreeable niece of the hotel’s owner, arrives for a wilderness tour—a treat for her 13th birthday—Hattie ends up serving as her personal attendant. The girls encounter Jacob Threadborne, a boy from the land of Marchwild who’s traveling as the apprentice to the country’s interior secretary, who’s on a mission to reclaim the Gem of the Evening, a powerful ancient relic that Marchwilders hold the Ridgewell family responsible for stealing. What was meant to be a luxurious train tour through the park turns into a treacherous survival mission when the train is sabotaged, and passengers are left scattered in the jungle. Dark secrets are revealed as the three young people work together to survive and save Majestica’s wondrous inhabitants. The rich worldbuilding will draw readers into an immersive adventure among the animal preserve’s biomes. Tolcser combines themes of conservation and the repatriation of cultural artifacts with unexpected friendships to create a fast-paced fantasy. Caparo’s exquisite art adds to the magic. Hattie and Evelyn are cued white; Jacob reads Black, and there’s additional racial diversity among secondary characters.
Charming characters abound in this tale that’s thoughtfully grounded in ethics. (map, bestiary, character list) (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: July 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593696545
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
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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