A solid choice for readers who like history with their mystery.
Time-traveling archenemies must work together to save their school.
In a world where some people are born with a gene that allows them to slide in and out of time—to Glitch—children with that DNA are educated at a special school run by the government. Interfering with the past is against the law, and anyone who travels back in time to manipulate history is labeled a Butterfly and arrested. Glitchers are trained to stop Butterflies, and Regan Fitz, whose mom is commander in chief of the U.S. branch of Glitch Academy, has great intuition when it comes to spotting people intent on altering the timeline. She is, however, at the bottom of her class because school is a struggle. Her nemesis is Elliot Mason, who is at the top of the class, but he lacks the gut instincts needed to be an excellent Glitcher. Character development takes a back seat to premise and plot here. Regan and Elliot fight constantly and are in the middle of an epic blowup when a Cocoon—an object planted by a Butterfly to effect a change—in Regan’s handwriting appears. The pair must work together to figure out its clues and succeed in their mission, all while avoiding detection and being arrested as Butterflies. The final time-travel sequences are many and dizzying, but the excellent pacing of the race to save the day overshadows this mechanics issue. Elliot appears black and Regan is white.
A solid choice for readers who like history with their mystery. (Science fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-289435-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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
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