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LOOK BACK, MOSS

The sheep-herding border collie of Away To Me, Moss (1994) changes another life after being mauled by coyotes and stolen by animal rights extremists. Jody’s house is filled with cats and other creatures rescued from locked cars by his mother and aunt, members of a loosely organized cell of activists. He is often dragged along on their forays, to provide a lookout and, if required, a diversion, and the stress has made him a compulsive eater, sullen and unresponsive to both of his divorced parents. Inspired by rumors of mistreated animals, members of the group attend a New Hampshire sheep-herding trial, where their efforts to remove the sheep end in a deadly melee after a pack of coyotes attacks; as the group escapes, they come upon Moss by the side of the road, bloody and barely alive. Afraid to go back, they carefully pick him up and drive away. Though Jody doesn’t like dogs (or any animals), he reluctantly accepts responsibility for Moss’s care, half-carrying the collie at first, then as brief walks turn into ever more strenuous runs, realizing that Moss will never be well away from his rightful owners. How is he going to get Moss back without giving himself and his mother away? While Levin is sympathetic to their concerns, the activists are portrayed as naive and close-minded, well-meaning but causing as much harm as good; Jody is more clearheaded, at least by the end, although he is so wrapped up in Moss’s welfare that readers are more aware of the changes in him than he is. Readers attracted by the strongly drawn main characters will find the author’s unusually even-handed treatment of a sensitive issue worth pondering. (Fiction. 10-12)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-688-15696-7

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1998

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CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE TERRIFYING RETURN OF TIPPY TINKLETROUSERS

From the Captain Underpants series , Vol. 9

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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CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE REVOLTING REVENGE OF THE RADIOACTIVE ROBO-BOXERS

From the Captain Underpants series , Vol. 10

Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride.

Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.

The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.

Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)

Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013

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