Dr. Avril Crump has never been the standout scientist at Leviticus Laboratories. It doesn’t help that since the human-cloning scandal of Dr. Blut 15 years ago, Leviticus has been more interested in regulations than science. It also doesn’t help that her supervisor Dr. Wetherby wants so desperately to join the board of directors that he’ll step on anyone, especially if it impresses the lovely, mysterious Dr. Sedukta. During an argument in Blut’s old lab, Crump and Wetherby cause an explosion that gives life to three mixed-up clones: a talking dog named Augustus, the Elizabethan-tongued Bonaparte, and the mostly normal girl Edna. To Avril, they’re friends. To Wetherby, they might be his ticket to the Board. To Dr. Sedukta, who happens to work for the evil genius-in-hiding Dr. Blut, they’re just what her employer needs to complete his experiments. Slapstick, mayhem, violence and elementary-school musicals ensue. First in a new modern fantasy series, this British import is of the same cloth as works by Philip Ardagh and Roddy Doyle. Not much for logic, plausibility or character development, this debut is quirky enough to keep pages turning. Not a first purchase, but worth a look. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-439-65130-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2005
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
Budding billionaire Greg Kenton has a knack for making money and a serious rival. When he issues his first Chunky Comic Book at the beginning of sixth grade, his neighbor and classmate Maura Shaw produces an alternative. Their quarrel draws the attention of the principal, who bans comics from the school. But when they notice all the other commercial messages in their school, they take their cause to the local school committee. Without belaboring his point, Clements takes on product placement in schools and the need for wealth. “Most people can only use one bathroom at a time,” says Greg’s math teacher, Mr. Z. Greg gets the message; middle-grade readers may ignore it in favor of the delightful spectacle of Greg’s ultimate economic success, a pleasing result for the effort this up-and-coming young businessman puts into his work. Clements weaves intriguing information about comic book illustration into this entertaining, smoothly written story. Selznick’s accompanying black-and-white drawings have the appearance of sketches Greg might have made himself. This hits the jackpot. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: July 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-86683-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2005
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