Hob is a helpful household presence, fond of babies and, less often, also visible to children; unfortunately, he has greedily donned clothes given him by a grateful human and can't adopt a new home until he gets rid of them. He boards a London bus and, still encumbered by his hat, is powerless to counter the mischief of its resident Gremlin. The Gremlin absconds with both bus and hat, setting Hob free but causing driver Charlie's dismissal, and Hob joins Charlie's family in their move to Fairy Ring Cottage, left by Charlie's great-uncle. The move is not felicitous; a neighbor is a witch and the uncle a sorceror, entrapped beneath the cottage with a pot of gold coveted by a Goblin King of such power that Hob is sure combatting him will mean his own end. Still, it's his nature to try to save his family from the evils that now surface. In short paragraphs and the simplest of sentences, Mayne conjures up a friendly spirit whose worldview is childlike yet enchantingly un-human. Hob is of all times and none, loves his present comforts (including a cup of tea) but is vague about past and future, communes with inanimates (each of unique character: ``Hob had to deal with Hole, who came in on a shoe and began to nest in a carpet. Hole went to live in a road with workmen to feed him...''); he's incapable of forethought but knows where menace lies and is determined to defeat it. And so he does, in a ripsnorter of a conclusion with the Gremlin reappearing on another bus. Both comical and suspenseful, a tour de force from one of Britain's greats; a perfect companion to Cooper's The Boggart (1993) and Diana Wynne Jones's ebullient fantasies. (Fiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1994
ISBN: 1-56458-713-4
Page Count: 140
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
Tales that “lay out your options for painful and interesting ways to die.” And to live.
In a similarly hefty companion to Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods (2014), the most voluble of Poseidon’s many sons dishes on a dozen more ancient relatives and fellow demigods.
Riordan averts his young yarn spinner’s eyes from the sex but not the stupidity, violence, malice, or bad choices that drive so many of the old tales. He leavens full, refreshingly tart accounts of the ups and downs of such higher-profile heroes as Theseus, Orpheus, Hercules, and Jason with the lesser-known but often equally awesome exploits of such butt-kicking ladies as Atalanta, Otrera (the first Amazon), and lion-wrestling Cyrene. In thought-provoking contrast, Psyche comes off as no less heroic, even though her story is less about general slaughter than the tough “Iron Housewives quests” Aphrodite forces her to undertake to rescue her beloved Eros. Furthermore, along with snarky chapter heads (“Phaethon Fails Driver’s Ed”), the contemporary labor includes references to Jay-Z, Apple Maps, god-to-god texting, and the like—not to mention the way the narrator makes fun of hard-to-pronounce names and points up such character flaws as ADHD (Theseus) and anger management issues (Hercules). The breezy treatment effectively blows off at least some of the dust obscuring the timeless themes in each hero’s career. In Rocco’s melodramatically murky illustrations, men and women alike display rippling thews and plenty of skin as they battle ravening monsters.
Tales that “lay out your options for painful and interesting ways to die.” And to live. (maps, index) (Mythology. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4231-8365-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A world-class charmer, Clements (The Janitor’s Boy, 2000, etc.) woos aspiring young authors—as well as grown up publishers, editors, agents, parents, teachers, and even reviewers—with this tongue-in-cheek tale of a 12-year-old novelist’s triumphant debut. Sparked by a chance comment of her mother’s, a harried assistant editor for a (surely fictional) children’s imprint, Natalie draws on deep reserves of feeling and writing talent to create a moving story about a troubled schoolgirl and her father. First, it moves her pushy friend Zoe, who decides that it has to be published; then it moves a timorous, second-year English teacher into helping Zoe set up a virtual literary agency; then, submitted pseudonymously, it moves Natalie’s unsuspecting mother into peddling it to her waspish editor-in-chief. Depicting the world of children’s publishing as a delicious mix of idealism and office politics, Clements squires the manuscript past slush pile and contract, the editing process, and initial buzz (“The Cheater grabs hold of your heart and never lets go,” gushes Kirkus). Finally, in a tearful, joyous scene—carefully staged by Zoe, who turns out to be perfect agent material: cunning, loyal, devious, manipulative, utterly shameless—at the publication party, Natalie’s identity is revealed as news cameras roll. Selznick’s gnomic, realistic portraits at once reflect the tale’s droll undertone and deftly capture each character’s distinct personality. Terrific for flourishing school writing projects, this is practical as well as poignant. Indeed, it “grabs hold of yourheart and never lets go.” (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82594-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
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