A pitch-perfect page-turner.
When her life changes overnight, Agatha finds herself in the middle of a ghost story, bravely unraveling her family’s hidden truths.
It’s the turn of the 20th century in England, and 12-year-old Agatha is forced into a new life. Upon her father’s death, she is disinherited from Gosswater Hall after learning that she was secretly—and not entirely legally—adopted, and her greedy, malicious cousin, Clarence, is taking over the vast estate. Agatha is sent to live with her biological father in his modest farm cottage, but she’s bent on undoing Clarence’s evil and fighting for what has been bequeathed to her—the Queen Stone, a priceless family heirloom whose whereabouts are unknown—and discovering the truth about who she is. Strange’s writing makes for a compelling read full of vivid descriptions and characters that are well imagined and richly drawn. Agatha is a strong and capable female lead, vulnerable enough to be believable and brave enough to remake her life. Others, like the midwife and mystic Moll Speedwell, a cantankerous goose named Susan, and Agatha’s friend Bryn, are irresistible, lively, fully formed characters. The titular ghost and other atmospheric elements evoke Brontë-an imagery just enough to spook but not terrorize. The story hits the right note thanks to expert plotting and pacing, with each twist and turn setting up what’s to come without being overly predictable. Characters are presumed White.
A pitch-perfect page-turner. (Historical mystery. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-68643-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t.
Brothers, one neurodivergent, team up to shoot baskets and find a thief.
With the coach spit-bellowing at him to play better or get out, basketball tryouts are such a disaster for 11-year-old Green that he pelts out of the gym—becoming the chief suspect to everyone except his fiercely protective older brother, Cedar, when a valuable ring vanishes from the coach’s office. Used to being misunderstood, Green is less affected by the assumption of his guilt than Cedar, whose violent reactions risk his suspension. Switching narrative duties in alternating first-person chapters, the brothers join forces to search for clues to the real thief—amassing notes, eliminating possibilities (only with reluctance does Green discard Ringwraiths from his exhaustive list of possible perps), and, on the way to an ingenious denouement, discovering several schoolmates and grown-ups who, like Cedar, see Green as his own unique self, not just another “special needs” kid. In an author’s note, King writes that he based his title characters on family members, adding an element of conviction to his portrayals of Green as a smart, unathletic tween with a wry sense of humor and of Cedar’s attachment to him as founded in real affection, not just duty. Ultimately, the author finds positive qualities to accentuate in most of the rest of the cast too, ending on a tide of apologies and fence-mendings. Cedar and Green default to White.
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-261-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fade to black and cue the applause!
From Selznick’s ever-generative mind comes a uniquely inventive story told in text, sequential art and period photographs and film.
Orphaned Hugo survives secretly in a Parisian train station (circa 1930). Obsessed with reconstructing a broken automaton, Hugo is convinced that it will write a message from his father that will save his life. Caught stealing small mechanical repair parts from the station’s toy shop, Hugo’s life intersects with the elderly shop owner and his goddaughter, Isabelle. The children are drawn together in solving the linked mysteries of the automaton and the identity of the artist, illusionist and pioneer filmmaker, Georges Méliès, long believed dead. Discovering that Isabelle’s godfather is Méliès, the two resurrect his films, his reputation and assure Hugo’s future. Opening with cinematic immediacy, a series of drawings immerses readers in Hugo’s mysterious world. Exquisitely chosen art sequences are sometimes stopped moments, sometimes moments of intense action and emotion. The book, an homage to early filmmakers as dreammakers, is elegantly designed to resemble the flickering experience of silent film melodramas.
Fade to black and cue the applause! (notes, film credits) (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-439-81378-6
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
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