Buckets of fun and spooky doings.
An eruption of evil hamsters at school throws up gut-wrenching challenges for new student Teddy Tyler-Meier in this series opener.
Formerly known to all as “Pukey Bear” after chronic anxiety issues caused him to vomit onstage before his entire school, Teddy hopes to make a fresh start at Ravensbarrow Elementary, deep in the Canadian pine woods. But his arrival coincides with that of a horde of hamsters with the terrifying power to turn everyone into mind-controlled zombie puppets. As it turns out, being doused in milk can turn them back into cute, harmless rodents—but, alas, even a slight taste or mention of the revolting stuff gives Teddy monumental heaves. Fortunately, Teddy finds ready allies in a remedial class of, as he puts it, “oddly inclusive weirdos,” including blue-haired Tienna, who has “impulse control” issues, and Shane, who insists that he “can read, just slowly.” Unfortunately, the invading hamsters turn out to be crafty as well as evil, and when push comes to shove, there’s only one way to stop them—or as Tienna repeatedly puts it, “Sometimes you’ve just gotta drink the milk!” Hallett floods the pages with monochrome views of pop-eyed, comically terrified students, menacingly toothy hamsters, and glassy-eyed victims; the results of Teddy’s frequent upheavals are, happily, confined to soggy puddles and outsized sound effects. Teddy reads white; supporting characters present as racially diverse.
Buckets of fun and spooky doings. (Comic horror. 8-11)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781773218557
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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