There’s a bona fide mystery, but most of the solving goes by the numbers.
A trio of fourth graders known as the Prime Detectives count up the clues to find out who’s sabotaging Arithmos Elementary’s fall festival.
In this series outing, mathematical mavens Abby Feldstein, Cam McGill, and Gabe Kim—who respectively present as white, Black, and Asian in Kissi’s cartoon line drawings—show each step of their work in boxed-out segments as they track a classmate’s spending, calculate the odds of dunking their teacher at a dunk-tank challenge, estimate the weights of outsize pumpkins, and engage in other real-life arithmetical operations. All the while, they also assemble evidence that various events at the annual festival have been deliberately sabotaged and reason their way to a culprit. The relentlessly instructional narrative also offers such non-mathematical tidbits as a mnemonic for how to spell February (“The rumor is that there are two R s in it!”), the value of a “memory palace” (a technique for recalling important things), and that there really is an African country called Eswatini (known as Swaziland until 2018), even if many recent maps don’t show it. In any case, the saboteur’s motives and the outcomes turn out to be relatively benign, and the episode winds its way to a peaceful close, with just a tantalizing hint that things may get “weird” next time around. Final art not seen.
There’s a bona fide mystery, but most of the solving goes by the numbers. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781250841797
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Odd Dot
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
An effort as insubstantial as any spirit.
Eleven-year-old Maria Russo helps her charlatan mother hoodwink customers, but Maria has a spirited secret.
Maria’s mother, the psychic Madame Destine, cons widows out of their valuables with the assistance of their apartment building’s super, Mr. Fox. Madame Destine home-schools Maria, and because Destine is afraid of unwanted attention, she forbids Maria from talking to others. Maria is allowed to go to the library, where new librarian Ms. Madigan takes an interest in Maria that may cause her trouble. Meanwhile, Sebastian, Maria’s new upstairs neighbor, would like to be friends. All this interaction makes it hard for Maria to keep her secret: that she is visited by Edward, a spirit who tells her the actual secrets of Madame Destine’s clients via spirit writing. When Edward urges Maria to help Mrs. Fisher, Madame Destine’s most recent mark, Maria must overcome her shyness and her fear of her mother—helping Mrs. Fisher may be the key to the mysterious past Maria uncovers and a brighter future. Alas, picture-book–creator Ford’s middle-grade debut is a muddled, melodramatic mystery with something of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink feel: In addition to the premise, there’s a tragically dead father, a mysterious family tree, and the Beat poets. Sluggish pacing; stilted, unrealistic dialogue; cartoonishly stock characters; and unattractive, flat illustrations make this one to miss. Maria and Sebastian are both depicted with brown skin, hers lighter than his; the other principals appear to be white.
An effort as insubstantial as any spirit. (author’s note) (Paranormal mystery. 7-10)Pub Date: July 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-20567-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
A mystery, a school story, sibling rivalry and the loss of a pet blend surprisingly well in this engaging chapter book. Charmingly awkward fifth grader Edgar Allan decides to solve a series of minor thefts that are plaguing his teacher, Ms. Herschel. Clues are plentiful—and rhymed—but the competition to solve them is fierce. Edgar’s nemesis, Patrick Chen, seems to have the inside track since his dad works in forensics. Edgar, however, finds that the friends he makes along the way provide the winning edge. Including transcripts of Edgar’s ingenuous interviews as well as poems written by a number of class members in her narrative, Amato provides a clear picture of both social and family dynamics while keeping the story moving smoothly along. The author’s characteristic humor is somewhat muted, but examples of amusing wordplay abound. Some readers may guess the identity of the culprit more quickly than Edgar and his friends do, but whodunit is not really the point. Solving puzzles, making friends and learning to see the world more clearly are the true aims of this adventure. (Mystery. 7-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2271-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
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