A tongue-in-cheek look at global warming whose satire will probably go over the heads of young readers, but its idea,...
With the planet heating up, the animals confer and decide that cow farts and burps are the cause; after considerable time and effort, they fit the cows with “cowtalytic converters”—perhaps too late.
Whimsical collage illustrations add just the right note to this allegory. Protesting animals carry banners and signs in unrecognizable languages that might just represent actual animal sounds. Investigating dolphins take to the air in curious flying machines. Colorful surgeonfish equipped with stethoscopes and hypodermic needles offer to operate. See-through cows have mechanical insides. And the suited negotiators, seated in comfortable chairs, have the self-satisfied look of bigwigs everywhere, in spite of their animal heads. Roy tells her story engagingly, playing with sound and language. Americans may not be familiar with the phrase “went doolally” but will enjoy the pileup of animal noises “shouting and babbling. / Cackling, clattering and chattering. / Giggling, gurgling and gobbling,” and on for three more lines. The flamingo suggests, “The cows could eat GM foods / low in gases (Gas Moderate) / to reduce air pollution.” The translation of this French import is delightful.
A tongue-in-cheek look at global warming whose satire will probably go over the heads of young readers, but its idea, pictorial execution and mordant humor will certainly amuse teens and adults. (Picture book. 10 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-907912-22-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Phoenix/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.
Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?
Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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