Where the execution falters the premise carries the book.
Dungeons & Dragons meets Clue in this capital-Q Quirky stand-alone murder mystery set in the Hero’s Guide series world.
When Baron Vargus Angbar’s ancestral treasure goes missing, butler Gribbinsnood Flornt must hire a bounty hunter to capture the famous wizard the baron believes to be guilty. Lured by a bard’s song, Flornt hires the Lilac—before learning that she’s 14 and in cahoots with the bard, Dulcinetta. The wizard hunt is an extended setup to get the Lilac and Netta to the baron’s castle, where they are invited by the baroness to dinner and the real mystery can begin. The narrator intrudes to occasionally remind readers what they’re really here for—a murder mystery; someone’s going to end up dead. The Lilac, sealed in the castle by a magically shrinking bubble with a roster of wacky suspects, must figure out whodunit. There’s the baron and his equally unpleasant noble dinner guest, the baroness who seems a bit too familiar with dead bodies, the baron’s wizard-in-training son, the baron’s prim and proper daughter, said daughter’s coarse yet highly competent etiquette master, a surly goth gnome cook, the butler, and an ogre guard. Every last one of them—including the Lilac and Netta—harbors secrets and isn’t what they seem. The Lilac must untangle the (sometimes excessive and tedious) red herrings (frequently delivered in long, expository backstory passages) to deduce the truth. Characters read white.
Where the execution falters the premise carries the book. (Fantasy mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9780062341945
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
More hijinks-filled adventure than mystery, this is sure to win an audience.
Ben Silverstein’s summer with Grandpa is about to go wild.
When his parents need to “work out some troubles,” 10-year-old Ben gets shipped off to tiny Buttonville, where everything seems to be closed or out of business since the button factory was shuttered years ago. Ben’s used to spending summers in the pool in his Los Angeles backyard with his friends, and Buttonville looks positively coma-inducing. When Grandpa’s mouser Barnaby deposits what has to be a baby dragon on Ben’s bed, Ben and his new friend Pearl (whom the whole town calls “troublemaker” on account of a few innocent incidents) decide to visit the new “worm doctor” who has moved into the abandoned button factory. (Ben had heard her strange assistant Mr. Tabby buying ingredients for “dragon’s milk” at the grocery....) When their visit unleashes a hairy, pudding-loving imaginary beast on the town of Buttonville, Ben and Pearl volunteer to catch him. Selfors kicks off her Imaginary Veterinary series with a solid, entertaining opener. Ben and Pearl are Everykids that readers will relate to, and the adults of Buttonville are often delightfully weird and clueless. Twenty-five pages of backmatter include information on wyverns and sasquatch as well as the science of reptiles and a pudding recipe.
More hijinks-filled adventure than mystery, this is sure to win an audience. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-316-20934-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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