Bound To Stay Bound

Bulletin for the Center... - 01/01/2017 In this newest entry in the buoyant Not-So-Impossible Tales series (last appearing in Pugs of the Frozen North, BCCB 1/16), Reeve and illustrator McIntyre once again offer a zippy fantasy for young readers. In this novel, Emily helps save the day when her beloved Funfair Moon, the amusement park on a moon where she has lived since she hatched from an egg (illustrations give Emily a useful combination of a tail and pointy ears with a human face and hands), is threatened. There’s a totally unfair inspector threatening to shut the place down, weird spiky things that are causing havoc, and a missing royal kid whose evil overlord father will cause utter destruction unless kiddo turns up soon. Gray and orange illustrations add humor and drama to the text, frequently accenting the most important aspect on each page, helping to break up the chapters, and keeping things moving along in concert with the bouncy text. The fact that Reeve manages to give his main bad guy a backstory with some significant longings of his own (he’s right that Office World, with its sensible, practical attractions, could be more successful if it were the only option available) is admirable given the minimal page count. Fans of the series will find this a worthy addition, and as the books are each standalone entries, new readers will dive right in with full understanding and appreciate having others to explore once they finish this one. AS - Copyright 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Booklist - 01/01/2017 Reeve and McIntyre are back with another Not-So-Impossible Tale, their illustrated series of wacky stand-alone adventures. Here readers travel to Funfair Moon, a lunar amusement park, where a young girl named Emily resides above the Lost Property Office. Emily loves the park’s riotous noise and energy—the screams from Terror Mountain, the spinning Tilt-A-Whirl, the sugar-scented air. Most of all, she likes helping the repairmen keep the park in tip-top shape. While things are typically all fun and games here, a vindictive safety inspector pays Funfair Moon a surprise visit just as rides start going haywire. It’s up to Emily to sort out what’s causing the trouble or the park will be shut down! This light mystery features short chapters rich in action and laughs, whether from a rampaging cotton candy monster or stormtrooperlike space commandos experiencing the joy of bumper cars. The cartoonish two-toned illustrations, in orange and black, reveal an alien Coney Island filled with swooping roller coaster tracks and tentacled park-goers. Readers are in for a wild ride with this one. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.