WAR OF THE WORLD RECORDS

WAR OF THE WORLD RECORDS by Matthew Ward | Kirkus HomeMagazineNewsletterEmail Newsletter Your AccountReviews / AssignmentsAuthor DashboardEditorial DashboardIndie Author DashboardYour Pro Page Pro InboxYour Book ListManage SubscriptionsChange PasswordLog outLog inSearch termSearch scopeAllReviewsInterviewsAuthorsListsPublishersPro ConnectLATEST ISSUE OFKirkus ReviewsFeaturing the best 100 nonfiction and best 50 teen books of 2014.Book Reviews Just Awarded the KIRKUS STAR CATEGORIESBiography & MemoirBusiness & EconomicsChildren's and TeenCurrent AffairsEntertainment & SportsEssays & AnthologiesFiction & LiteratureFood & CookingGraphic Novels & Comic BooksHealth & MedicineHistoryIndieiPad Book AppsMystery & CrimeNature & TravelPsychologyReligionRomanceScience & TechnologyScience Fiction & FantasySocial SciencesThrillersTrue CrimeBEST BOOKSKirkus Stars & RecommendationsBEST OF 2014FictionNonfictionChildren'sTeenIndieBook AppsFEATURED REVIEWSHot ListsVintage ReviewsBest of 2014FICTIONBy CategoryFull ListFeatured AuthorsCHILDREN'SBy CategoryFull ListFeatured Authors & IllustratorsNONFICTIONBy CategoryFull ListFeatured AuthorsTEENBy CategoryFull ListFeatured AuthorsINDIEBy CategoryFull ListFeatured AuthorsBOOK APPSFull ListBestsellersAuthors Featured Author CANDACE FLEMING CATEGORIESChildren's Authors & IllustratorsFiction Authors Nonfiction Authors Young Adult Authors Bestselling Author Success StoriesTOP AUTHORSLatest InterviewsBestselling AuthorsKirkus Reviews Cover StoriesAre you an author?Get Your Book ReviewedGet Your Book EditedPromote Your ReviewKirkus TV Coming Soon Beth Macyauthor of FACTORY MANDecember 9, 2014AUTHOR INTERVIEWSShow ScheduleRecent InterviewsBROWSE VIDEOSAllFictionNonfictionLatest InterviewAndrew Smithauthor of GRASSHOPPER JUNGLEBlogs Latest From SF SIGNAL CATEGORIESChildren'sMysteries/ThrillersRomanceSci-Fi/FantasyYoung AdultBLOGSSF SignalForever Young AdultThe Book SmugglersSeven Impossible Things Before BreakfastBookshelves of DoomThe Rap SheetBobbi Dumas: Read-A-RomanceATFMBAndrew Liptak Contests The Kirkus Prize Recently Nominated GENERAL INFORMATIONRules & Selection Process2014 Judges2014 Awards CeremonyFAQPress Room2014 WINNERS & FINALISTSFictionNonfictionYoung Readers' Literature2015 NOMINEESFictionNonfictionYoung Readers' LiteratureABOUT THE KIRKUS PRIZEThe Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.Pro Connect This Week's AUTHOR TO WATCH ALBERT FLYNN DESILVER
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KIRKUS REVIEW

The world record?setting Whipplefamily faces off against the rival Goldwins in the World Record WorldChampionships.?

A string of bad luck has fallen uponthe Whipple family, and black sheep Arthur Whipple has taken it upon himself toinvestigate the series of unfortunate events that continuously derails hisfamily's quest for glory. The prime suspects are the Goldwins, an up-and-comingteam that has the World Record World Championship in their sights. The bizarremystery weaving throughout Ward's sequel includes vandalism, bribery, murderand kidnapping. Unfortunately, this promising concept is smothered bystylization and padding. There's simply no reason for this story to bestretched across 375 pages, other than to indulge the author's apparentfondness for over-the-top buffoonery and narrative dead ends. The final strawis reached during the book's last chapter, in which the mystery is resolved notby Arthur and his clever sleuthing but instead a letter left behind by theguilty party. This letter spans 10 pages. Readers deserve better than 10 solidpages of exposition at the end of the book explaining who did what to whom andwhy?and setting up the third Whipple adventure, one few readers will likely be interestedin.

An exciting premise destroyed bytedious plotting. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date:?Dec. 4th, 2014ISBN:?978-1-59514-691-5Page count:?400ppPublisher:?Razorbill/PenguinReview Posted Online: Sept.?14th,?2014Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct.?1st,?2014



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Rain Still Falling in California After Major Storm Breaks Records

A major Pacific storm that broke records across Southern California and delivered a small measure of relief to the drought-stricken state brought more rain on Wednesday but the danger of major mudslides in wildfire-scarred areas appeared to have passed, officials said.

The sub-tropical storm, which originated in the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii, was the strongest to hit Southern California since at least February and poured at least an inch (2.5 cm) of rain across a wide swath of the region, and up to four inches (10 cm) in some mountain and foothill areas.

Rainfall records for Dec. 2 dating to the 1960s were broken in downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles International Airport, Long Beach Airport and communities such as Antelope Valley, Palmdale and Camarillo, National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Boldt said.

The storm also brought much-needed snow to area mountains.

Residents walk past sandbags as rain begins to fall in Glendora, California on Dec. 2, 2014. /Reuters

Boldt said mudslides and flash floods that officials feared in areas where wildfires had left hillsides nearly barren did not materialize because rainfall rates generally remained below the half-inch-per-hour threshold that usually triggers them.

Evacuation orders that were issued for the wildfire areas were largely lifted by early on Wednesday.

California has been in the grip of a record-shattering, multi-year drought that has forced officials to sharply reduce water supplies to farms and prompted drastic conservation measures statewide.

Prior to Tuesday's storm, downtown Los Angeles had recorded a total of only 5.89 inches of rain for 2014, compared to the 15 inches the region receives in a typical year.

Boldt said the storm, the first of California's winter season that typically begins in December, was of some help in long-parched areas but would not be nearly enough on its own to ameliorate the drought.

"Every storm is going to help us but one storm is not going to get us out of the drought," Boldt said. "If we have 10-20 more storms like this one we're going to be looking much better on the drought."

The National Weather Service said the storm was expected to move out of Southern California to the east by the end of Wednesday, although a second, smaller system might bring showers to parts of the state on Thursday.

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