A most enjoyable apocalypse.
The end of the world has rarely been quite this much fun.
White, blue-haired Margot Blumenthal is a recent arrival to West Cove and has not had much luck making friends at her new middle school despite participation in extracurriculars such as the school play. Latinx Mateo Flores, on the other hand, is a real people pleaser who has grown up in West Cove. When a parasitic tentacled slug begins to take control of Mateo’s behavior, Margot happens to be just the person to detach it, in an operation that is delightfully gross. Mateo’s parasite is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, though, as our heroes soon discover patient zero may be Mateo’s own father. He and many other adults from the town conservation club also seem to be infected by these alien invaders, compelled to serve the will of a life force not of this Earth and spread its spawn across the globe. It is up to Margot and Mateo to save the world despite their own inner struggles and their conflicts with each other. The pod-person plot is nothing new for sci-fi, but it’s rare in middle-grade fiction, and Miller’s spin keeps it fresh. Short chapters keep the pace moving, with just the right amount of humor and ick factor, sure to appeal to both avid and reluctant readers. The end comes too soon, and readers will hope for more adventures with these unlikely friends.
A most enjoyable apocalypse. (Science fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-246131-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
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