Partially thanks to his solving The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (2009), 12-year-old Steve Brixton has been able to start his own detective agency. Now he’s a real sleuth like his heroes, the fictional Bailey Brothers, no matter what his mother’s lame, cop boyfriend Rick might say to the contrary. Steve gets a call from Victor Fairview, the richest man in Ocean Park, Calif., when Fairview’s red diamond goes missing. Steve solves that case in less than an hour despite Rick’s interference. While charged with guarding the diamond, Steve gets a letter from his idol, MacArthur Bart, author of the Bailey Brothers books. Bart needs Steve’s help! With best friend Dana in tow, Steve sets out to find Bart. Can a detective weaned on a couple of 1950s Hardy Boys clones solve a case with more twists than a…a really twisty thing? Barnett’s second Brixton Brothers mystery continues the whimsically sardonic adventures of everyone’s soon-to-be-favorite clueless-yet-earnest boy detective–wannabe. Shot through with moments of goofiness and dotted with Rex’s black-and-white illustrations, this is sure to please existing fans and win new ones. (Mystery. 8-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4169-7817-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
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Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.
The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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