This adventure may briefly entertain.
A patrician boy meets a girl from a traveling troupe of actors on Pompeii’s last day.
Thalia is a musician and actor with a tiny company, returned to Pompeii and the shadow of Mount Vesuvius for the first time since she was a baby. Felix is the son of one of Pompeii’s leading politicians in this city full of light-skinned people in the first-century Roman Empire. When Thalia chases after her runaway dog, she meets Felix, who doesn’t want to be a politician like his father. They don’t have much of an encounter, though they interact several times during an evening in which the water smells suddenly sulfurous and the animals seem to have vanished. When the earthquake comes, they think they’ll be OK—but what to do when ash and pumice stone rain down from above? A casual, prosaic style sometimes adds a touch of humor (Felix amuses his mother, who “tries to stop a laugh and snorts instead”), but sometimes the ellipsis-laden language is just too clunky, especially in the nonfiction notes that close out every chapter. Chilvers’ occasional black-and-white illustrations are equally stiff. The occasional regrettable oversimplification occurs: One of the chapter-ending notes enumerates “churches” among the public establishments of ancient Rome, which may well give young readers a misleading impression of Pompeii’s religious landscape. Series companion Escape From the Titanic, by Mary Kay Carson and also illustrated by Chilvers, publishes simultaneously.
This adventure may briefly entertain. (timeline, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4998-1167-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after.
Drake has been selected by the king to serve as a Dragon Master, quite a change for an 8-year-old farmer boy.
The dragons are a secret, and the reason King Roland has them is a mystery, but what is clear is that the Dragon Stone has identified Drake as one of the rare few children who have a special connection with dragons and the ability to serve as a trainer. Drake’s dragon is a long brown creature with, at first, no particular talents that Drake can identify. He calls the dragon Worm. It isn’t long before Drake begins to realize he has a very strong connection with Worm and can share what seem to be his dragon’s thoughts. After one of the other Dragon Masters decides to illicitly take the dragons outside, disaster strikes. The cave they are passing through collapses, blocking the passageway, and then Worm’s special talent becomes evident. The first of a new series of early chapter books, this entry is sure to attract fans. Brief chapters, large print, lots of action, attractive illustrations in every spread, including a maplike panorama, an enviable protagonist—who wouldn’t want to be a Dragon Master?—all combine to make an entertaining read.
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-64624-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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