In this laugh-out-loud sequel to The Edison Mystery (not reviewed), seventh-grade computer whiz Qwerty Stevens sucks Ben Franklin out of the past for a tour of the modern world, then follows him back to 1776 to witness the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Pulling a history report off the Internet (for which he gets into deep doo-doo later), Qwerty accidentally activates his “Anywhere Anytime” machine—and suddenly there’s an old man in tights sitting on his bed. Marveling at such wonders as light switches and pencil sharpeners, uttering strings of apothegms (“ ‘The more a man has, the more he wants. Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it. He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money’ ”) and hitting on every woman he meets, Franklin proves to be the hero of the piece, calmly confronting a bully in Qwerty’s class, then later outwitting deranged thief Ashley Quadrel who, as in the previous adventure, follows Qwerty back in time with the intent of wreaking havoc on the past. Gutman separates historical fact, of which there is a considerable amount here, from fiction in an afterword, then closes with an appreciation of Franklin’s inventions and other accomplishments. The author gives Qwerty a mild case of ADD, just to jump on that bandwagon, but his light touch makes this a painless introduction to a pivotal person in American history as well as a knee-slapper for “Time Warp Trio” fans. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84553-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The exquisite writing can’t compensate for the story’s overwrought elements.
In Wolk’s latest, a self-contained girl finds companionship in one of the most notoriously unfriendly of places: a Maine island.
Twelve-year-old Lucretia and her mother, both artists, have moved to fictional Candle Island for the isolation; grieving the recent loss of Lucretia’s father and with a big secret to keep, they need to be where, as her mother says, “they’ll let us be who we are.” Lucretia soon draws the ire of prickly Murdock and the tentative friendship of Bastian, her cousin, two townies with secrets of their own. Among the island’s summer people are a nosy art critic and three young sociopaths, who all complicate life for Lucretia and her mother, though in very different ways. At a sentence level, this work glows. Lucretia hears sounds as colors (although synesthesia goes unmentioned), layering them onto her narration the way she applies her oils to canvas. Wolk’s characterization and plotting, however, waver. The children too often speak with a formality that’s not attributable to the late 1960s / early ’70s setting, and Lucretia’s self-possession frequently makes her feel far older than 12. The tense cultural backdrop would be an effective one for the exploration of Wolk’s themes were it not for the three summer kids’ flagrant evil, which leaches the story of its subtlety. Most characters present white.
The exquisite writing can’t compensate for the story’s overwrought elements. (Historical fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9780593698549
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
It’s great to see these kids “so enthusiastic about committing high treason.” (historical note) (Historical fiction. 10-12)
Near the end of World War II, two kids join their parents in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler.
Max, 12, lives with his parents and his older sister in a Berlin that’s under constant air bombardment. During one such raid, a mortally wounded man stumbles into the white German family’s home and gasps out his last wish: “The Führer must die.” With this nighttime visitation, Max and Gerta discover their parents have been part of a resistance cell, and the siblings want in. They meet a colorful band of upper-class types who seem almost too whimsical to be serious. Despite her charming levity, Prussian aristocrat and cell leader Frau Becker is grimly aware of the stakes. She enlists Max and Gerta as couriers who sneak forged identification papers to Jews in hiding. Max and Gerta are merely (and realistically) cogs in the adults’ plans, but there’s plenty of room for their own heroism. They escape capture, rescue each other when they’re caught out during an air raid, and willingly put themselves repeatedly at risk to catch a spy. The fictional plotters—based on a mix of several real anti-Hitler resistance cells—are portrayed with a genuine humor, giving them the space to feel alive even in such a slim volume.
It’s great to see these kids “so enthusiastic about committing high treason.” (historical note) (Historical fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-35902-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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