A mostly historically accurate, though not terribly engaging retelling of Operation Dynamo.
Twelve-year-olds Aidan and Sally sail a tiny fishing boat across the English Channel and risk their lives rescuing trapped Allied soldiers from Dunkirk.
Aidan’s parents initially refuse to join the mission, claiming one son was enough to sacrifice to the war, but Aidan is determined. He and his friend Sally commandeer his parents’ boat and set sail across the English Channel, hoping to rescue his brother, George, and the other trapped soldiers from the advancing Axis troops. A missile breaches the hull, but spare lifejackets stuffed into the hole keep them afloat. Insufficient fuel, enemy planes, and the smoke-filled air further threaten their journey, but Aidan and Sally finally make the shore. They manage to ferry dozens of soldiers to waiting rescue ships, but George is nowhere to be found. Scenes alternate between the drama on the water and the desperate conditions on land. While the gore is kept to a minimum, death, injury, and peril are constant; despite this, however, the story lags. A glossary, a timeline of the rescue, and a brief overview of the war are included to give context. Aidan and Sally are brave, and the soldiers are honorable, making for a sympathetic cast—no characters of color are among it though, despite the presence of Indian troops at Dunkirk, making it an all-white one.
A mostly historically accurate, though not terribly engaging retelling of Operation Dynamo. (Historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-22685-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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