An eventful chapter book that will expertly provide young readers with adventure and social guidance.
A boy struggling with school and family issues discovers a magic ring that can transport him back in time in Small’s middle-grade fantasy series-starter.
Fifth-grader Russell Michael Boyd lives with his mom, his frequently drunk father, and his grandfather who recently moved in with them. Russ is tasked with taking Grandpa to the local carousel every day, but he doesn’t understand the ride’s appeal to the old man—until one day when Grandpa takes his hand while riding a wooden horse. The pair are instantly transported to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1827, where his grandfather has often had adventures as “Mountain Man Mike”; also, both he and Russ can telepathically communicate with the carousel’s horses, which have become real horses. However, Grandpa suffers a stroke after disembarking the ride back in modern times; before he’s taken to the hospital, he hands Russ the magic brass ring that makes the time travel possible. Russ secretly embarks on magical journeys by himself, traveling in different time periods, depending on which carousel horse he rides. His adventures include one as a squire during a jousting tournament and another as a firefighter in the early 20th century, and each brings new opportunities for the boy to realize his own bravery and explore his talents and capacity for kindness. He also deals with his father’s verbal and physical abuse back home, which is depicted sensitively throughout. Throughout the book, Small often clearly and explicitly makes parallels between the past and present, as when Russ confronts a junk seller abusing a horse during one time-travel jaunt: “I’d seen that look on my dad’s face when he was angry. My insides quivered, and my hands tightened into fists. I told myself to be brave.” The novel also tackles several other weighty issues, such as bullying and school-related anxieties, in a consistently age-appropriate way. Dorman’s grayscale, cartoonlike horse illustration appears at the top of each chapter, providing a somewhat whimsical contrast to some of the heavier themes.
An eventful chapter book that will expertly provide young readers with adventure and social guidance.Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 979-8987444054
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Carousel Acres Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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