Cranking out the cases for his brainy, perpetually ten-year-old sleuth since 1963, Sobol dishes up ten more—from stolen cookies and rare stamps to faked photos (see title) and a bogus 18th-century diary. Though the plots are as formulaic as they come, that's partly the point, and the easy language and frequent pen-and-ink illustrations provide an enduring draw for fledgling readers; the entertainment value in winkling out the telling clue without having to turn to the solutions in the back is evergreen. There’s usually an artful joke or two to catch, too (“This time it was Flash Borden who came running up. Flash was in fifth grade, like Encyclopedia. His real name was Gordon. He had left Gordon Borden behind in kindergarten. Flash, he had decided, suited him better”—ba-da-boom!), plus some clever wordplay. Interchangeable the volumes may be, but young Brown remains a model for budding detectives everywhere. How pleasing to have a new clutch of mysteries for the rising generation thereof. (Crime fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-525-42210-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
A fun-if-flimsy vehicle for science lovers.
A fifth grade girl brings her love of chemistry to the school play.
Kate loves science so much she’s determined to breathe fire. Of course she knows that she needs adult supervision, and so, with her science teacher’s help, Kate demonstrates an experiment with cornstarch and a blowtorch that nearly sets her teacher’s cactus on fire. Consequences ensue. Can someone who loves science as much as Kate does find pleasure spending her fall break at drama camp? It turns out that even the school play—Dragons vs. Unicorns—needs a chemist, though, and Kate saves the day with glue and glitter. She’s sabotaged along the way, but everything is fine after Kate and her frenemy agree to communicate better (an underwhelming response to escalating bullying). Doodles decorate the pages; steps for the one experiment described that can be done at home—making glittery unicorn-horn glue—are included. The most exciting experiments depicted, though, include flames or liquid nitrogen and could only be done with the help of a friendly science teacher. Biberdorf teaches chemistry at the University of Texas and also performs science-education programs as “Kate the Chemist”; in addition to giving her protagonist her name and enthusiasm, she also seems represented in Kate-the-character’s love of the fictional YouTube personality “Dr. Caroline.” Kate and her nemesis are white; Kate’s best friends are black and South Asian.
A fun-if-flimsy vehicle for science lovers. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11655-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A weak outing in a worthy series, with camp safety plainly playing second fiddle to science instruction.
The latest graphic Summer Camp Science Mystery fills readers in on the ups and downs of acoustics—but not without sounding some sour notes.
A pair of thunderstorms provide opportunities for camp counselors to explain the rule of thumb for approximating lightning’s distance and to reveal the cause of mysterious murmurs heard down by the lake. (They aren’t ghosts but noises carrying across from another camp on the opposite shore.) In between, young campers see how an umbrella can be turned into an amplifier for an old cassette recorder, encounter bats, learn how a sonar fish finder works and make cardboard-tube flutes as another counselor tells an unsourced (Lakota, she claims) legend about the instrument’s invention. Also, in what amounts to a direct tutorial in risky behavior, two children linger at the water’s edge as the second storm rolls in, then flee into the woods in panic until they are lost and plunge blindly into a dark cave for shelter. They are quickly rescued, and a weak joke leaves everyone laughing. Interspersed with explanatory glosses, Torres’ dispensable panels depict bug-eyed figures looking over one another’s shoulders and pointing.
A weak outing in a worthy series, with camp safety plainly playing second fiddle to science instruction. (glossary, recap, experiments) (Graphic fiction/nonfiction hybrid. 8-10)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4677-0734-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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