Fast-moving fun with broad audience appeal, especially recommended for reluctant readers, Rick Riordan fans, and...
Nic enjoys training as a charioteer—not that he has a choice—for his grandfather, Radulf, but the uneasy family détente is shattered when Nic learns the Praetors have taken his mother hostage in Volume 2 of this series set in Imperial Rome’s turbulent third century.
Believing Nic has the key to finding a magical amulet, the Malice of Mars, the Praetors use his mother as leverage to force him to turn it over to them, thereby giving an edge to their candidate, Diana, in a celestial civil war. Radulf insists Nic help him acquire the amulet to ensure the destruction of Rome. Nic just wants to free his mother and reunite his family, albeit on his own non-negotiable terms: he won’t sacrifice the people and city he loves. Nic is certain he doesn’t have the key; or does he? He has loyal allies—younger sister Livia, love interest Aurelia, friend Crispus, and the unicorn Callistus—but his opponents number just about every power broker in Imperial Rome. Nic is equally appealing this time around: cheerfully set on his goals yet brutally realistic about the poor odds of success. If Nic’s “act first-think later” M.O. gets him in trouble, it also gets him out of it—temporarily, anyway.
Fast-moving fun with broad audience appeal, especially recommended for reluctant readers, Rick Riordan fans, and pedal-to-the-metal adventure aficionados. (Historical fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-56204-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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
A beautifully executed victory lap for a beloved series.
An origin story for the man who provides wisdom and a sense of cohesion for the young runners who star in Reynolds’ celebrated series.
Years before Coach guided the members of the Defenders through hurdles on and off the field, he was a 12-year-old boy known as Otie. Otie’s a gifted runner, though impulsive (as his mother says, “Your body’s fast, but your mind don’t always move at the same speed”), and he’s thrilled to learn that the scout who helped his idol, Carl Lewis, make it to the 1984 Olympics four years ago will be arriving soon to assess the talent on his team. His loving parents encourage him—and do their best to keep him away from the influence of the Clippers, a gang that sells drugs in his predominantly Black neighborhood. When his father, who’s frequently away for work, returns with a gift of Jordans, Otie is even more excited, but the cherished sneakers serve as the catalyst for learning difficult truths about his father. Reynolds does a remarkable job of using pop culture references—from Michael Jackson to Back to the Future—to establish a sense of time and place. As always, his command of language is masterly, with crackling dialogue, propulsive plotting, and adroit characterization: Readers will emerge with a rich portrait of the forces that created the man whose mentorship would have a powerful effect on so many young people.
A beautifully executed victory lap for a beloved series. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9798347102372
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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