Fast-paced adventure with a lot of charm.
Ra is Pharaoh’s Cat, exalted, proud, pampered, and very lazy.
He lives for naps and snacks and views physical activity with horror. His friend Khepri, a scarab beetle, tries to get him moving, but to no avail. When Miu, a lowly kitchen cat, begs him to use his knowledge of the palace’s secrets to help Tedimut, a young human girl falsely accused of stealing an amulet, he declines, appalled at the possibility of missing his next snack. Shamed into helping, he leads the way through the intricacies of the palace. They find Tedimut’s hiding place, and after hearing her story, Ra decides to be the lead detective, with Khepri as his sidekick, to find the real thief. They track clues throughout the palace and get help from Aat, the Great Wife’s leopard; Bebi, the pet baboon of Pharaoh’s mother; and others. Overheard conversations, palace intrigue, chases, and loads of red herrings come into play before they find the surprise culprit and solve the mystery. Greenfield’s tone is generally lighthearted, but there is an undertone concerning the nature of power. The exciting ancient setting, as well as the characters’ idiosyncratic personalities and their delightful repartee, will appeal to young readers. Horne’s pen-and-ink portraits, elongated and exaggerated, perfectly complement the seriocomic tone of the novel.
Fast-paced adventure with a lot of charm. (glossary of names, author’s note, source note, acknowledgements) (Historical fantasy/mystery. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4027-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wild romp that champions making space for vulnerable creatures and each other.
A boy with ADHD explores nature and himself.
Eleven-year-old Jake Rizzi just wants to be seen as “normal”; he blames his brain for leading him into trouble and making him do things that annoy his peers and even his own parents. Case in point: He’s stuck spending a week in rural Oregon with an aunt he barely knows while his parents go on vacation. Jake’s reluctance changes as he learns about the town’s annual festival, during which locals search for a fabled turtle. But news of this possibly undiscovered species has spread. Although Aunt Hettle insists to Jake that it’s only folklore, the fame-hungry convene, sure that the Ruby-Backed Turtle is indeed real—just as Jake discovers is the case. Keeping its existence secret is critical to protecting the rare creature from a poacher and others with ill intentions. Readers will keep turning pages to find out how Jake and new friend Mia will foil the caricatured villains. Along the way, Bramucci packs in teachable moments around digital literacy, mindfulness, and ecological interdependence, along with the message that “the only way to protect the natural world is to love it.” Jake’s inner monologue elucidates the challenges and benefits of ADHD as well as practical coping strategies. Whether or not readers share Jake’s diagnosis, they’ll empathize with his insecurities. Jake and his family present white; Mia is Black, and names of secondary characters indicate some ethnic diversity.
A wild romp that champions making space for vulnerable creatures and each other. (Adventure. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781547607020
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not the first time old Ben has paid our times a call, but it’s funny and free-spirited, with an informational load that...
Antics both instructive and embarrassing ensue after a mysterious package left on their doorstep brings a Founding Father into the lives of two modern children.
Summoned somehow by what looks for all the world like an old-time crystal radio set, Ben Franklin turns out to be an amiable sort. He is immediately taken in hand by 7-year-old Olive for a tour of modern wonders—early versions of which many, from electrical appliances in the kitchen to the Illinois town’s public library and fire department, he justly lays claim to inventing. Meanwhile big brother Nolan, 10, tags along, frantic to return him to his own era before either their divorced mom or snoopy classmate Tommy Tuttle sees him. Fleming, author of Ben Franklin’s Almanac (2003) (and also, not uncoincidentally considering the final scene of this outing, Our Eleanor, 2005), mixes history with humor as the great man dispenses aphorisms and reminiscences through diverse misadventures, all of which end well, before vanishing at last. Following a closing, sequel-cueing kicker (see above) she then separates facts from fancies in closing notes, with print and online leads to more of the former. To go with spot illustrations of the evidently all-white cast throughout the narrative, Fearing incorporates change-of-pace sets of sequential panels for Franklin’s biographical and scientific anecdotes. Final illustrations not seen.
It’s not the first time old Ben has paid our times a call, but it’s funny and free-spirited, with an informational load that adds flavor without weight. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-93406-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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