Breakneck pacing and intelligent writing make this an undeniably entertaining read for espionage aficionados of all ages.
This espionage thriller for young readers—the first installment of a planned series—revolves around a boy recruited to be an operative for a secret organization whose mission is to protect the world from evil.
Jake Hale, a 14-year-old kid with an overactive imagination, is having an uneventful summer. Upon hearing the news that his parents believe an abandoned house in the neighborhood may be inhabited by squatters, Jake—pretending to be a secret agent—borrows his father’s bird-watching binoculars and stakes out the building. But instead of finding bank robbers on the run or a band of ninja assassins, Jake discovers something even more incredible: Two teenage agents from a secret intelligence agency called Stormglass are in Jake’s neighborhood to recruit him. After befriending Lizzie and Filby, the kid spies, Jake learns the specifics of their mission—to stop the head of a multinational corporation from killing off all of the planet’s honeybees with genetically modified killer bees, which would put the future of humankind in jeopardy. From there, Jake embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. Like a Bond adventure for kids, the storyline is action-packed, pedal-to-the-metal paced, replete with cool high-tech gadgetry, and powered by a smart, at times humorous narrative tone. The storyline verges on implausibility in places, but the confident, fluid writing helps make it work. And although it was obviously written with young readers in mind, the deeply speculative premise (involving genetic manipulation, looming environmental collapse and terrorism) is so intriguing and timely that older readers could enjoy it, too. At the novel’s conclusion, a subtle reference to John le Carré’s classic spy novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) is not only brilliant but fitting.
Breakneck pacing and intelligent writing make this an undeniably entertaining read for espionage aficionados of all ages.Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-0989933605
Page Count: 278
Publisher: Stormglass Ventures LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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