Supporting characters shine in tales that will likely appeal most to preexisting Moana 2 fans.
Leong’s graphic story collection, illustrated by Greppi, follows characters from the Disney film Moana 2 in four new stories.
In “Heihei in Love,” Moana has arrived at a new island with rooster Heihei and pig Pua in tow. Moana is off-page looking for firewood for three-quarters of this 12-page tale, so the animals are mainly left to their own devices. Therefore, this humorous narrative relies not on dialogue, but heavily and effectively on illustrations, occasional animal noises, and sounds such as “BONK” and “BAM.” In “Pinkie Promise,” Moana’s younger sister Simea wants to play, but Moana needs to get ready for a voyage. Despite the older sibling’s unusual tasks, including bundling rope, collecting breadfruit, and assembling bamboo canisters, the family dynamic will be relatable to many young readers. Next, “Loto’s Inventions” catalogs a female inventor’s history of failed or underappreciated inventions: a flying machine, an “automatic fallen-coconut harvester,” and a “long distance stuff-mover.” The older male villagers are frustrated with Loto, but Moana keeps encouraging her friend. Loto finally finds success with “the better together mango-netter” in a story of perseverance and empowerment. However, the story’s feminist theme seems muddled by the fact that Loto’s only accepted invention is based on the suggestion of a male villager. Lastly, in “Moni’s Dream Team,” Moni tells village children stories about the kakamora and the realm of monsters. Moni, another of Moana’s crew members, portrays himself as a hero, but Moana says his stories “weren’t exactly what happened” and that he took “creative liberties.” Although the children express anger and disappointment, he justifies his stories as “fun” and never apologizes. Readers are mostly likely to appreciate these vivid short stories if they already have knowledge of the Moana 2film, as there’s not enough context provided to fully appreciate the book as a standalone. Greppi illustrates the easily identifiable Polynesian characters differently than the movies do; they’re less detailed and more classically cartoonish in style, but well-executed throughout. The background clearly features a Polynesian landscape with tropical trees and thatched huts.
Supporting characters shine in tales that will likely appeal most to preexisting Moana 2 fans.Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781545818527
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
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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