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Jennings, Richard W.
8 Reviews
(2)
YA
Thirteen-year-old Spencer Honesty is the last kid in Paisley, Kansas. He takes pictures of the town's old haunts--and former residents start appearing in the photographs. This delicious premise--a ghost town coming back to life in dreams and photographs--is developed with an accretion of humorous situations and details. Readers will enjoy Jennings's quirky story of a town's unlikely savior.
Reviewer: Dean Schneider
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2009
(3)
YA
Young pirate captain Coop deVille wants what many teenage boys want: a girl. Sixteen-year-old Floridian Jenny, bored and adventure-starved, dismisses Coop's advances but becomes hooked by buried treasure, his other quest. Coop tries to juggle his crush and his search along with a disobedient crew and a feisty parrot. Jennings manages to bring realism to his contemporary pirate love story.
Reviewer: Betsy Murray
(2)
4-6
While on a sightseeing tour, fourteen-year-old Will falls into the Mississippi and finds himself stranded on an island inhabited by giant ferrets and a reclusive author who's training the ferrets to be eco-terrorists. Throughout, Jennings treats readers to eccentric characters, multiple coincidences, and outrageous wordplay. The story was first published serially in the Kansas City Star.
Reviewer: Betty Carter
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
May, 2007
(2)
4-6
Although his family produces foul-smelling catfish bait, kindhearted Cade doesn't believe in killing fish. This makes him an easy mark for a fraudulent woman whose interests stem from greed rather than a concern for animal rights. The ensuing caper takes an exaggerated route into the heart of catfish country, with Jennings trolling for every bit of humor, satire, and slapstick he can find.
Reviewer: Betty Carter
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2006
(2)
4-6
Twelve-year-old Lawson's dog used to belong to his best friend, Jip, who died. Somehow, ghosts as diverse as Sam Walton and Eleanor Roosevelt are popping up to help Lawson get in touch with Jip. Jennings injects philosophical insight into his string of loopy scenarios in a book that shows that the dearly departed don't need to haunt the living to stay close to them.
Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
January, 2005
(4)
4-6
Twelve-year-old Andy investigates the strange disappearance of his assistant principal, Mr. Farley. This mystery (as well as one involving Andy's parentage) plays second fiddle to a busy, farcical narrative teeming with improbable events (tornadoes, grasshopper plagues, volcanoes) and off-the-wall characters. While the novel strains too hard for eccentricity, its absurdist tone and antic pace are engaging.
Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta
(4)
4-6
When sixth-grader Fowler Young discovers that one of the class pets at his school is possibly dying due to neglect, he hatches a plan to steal the Amazon parrot, hide it in his bedroom, and pin the blame on a nerdy classmate. Nearly every aspect of his plot goes awry. Some over-the-top characterizations and plot twists nearly overwhelm the low-key quirkiness of Fowler's first-person voice.
Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta
(2)
4-6
An eleven-year-old boy uncovers fossil remains in his back yard and attempts to unearth and identify his amazing find. With warm affection and wry humor, Jennings draws an endearing cast of supporting characters to help or hinder the boy in his cause. The novel is laced with droll tongue-in-cheek observations, philosophical musings, and slight hints of absurdity.
Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2001
8 reviews
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