A complex, cinematic, and eclectic page-turner.
A notable disappearance leaves two young sleuths with a stirring and surprise-filled summer case.
Dr. Alistair Fairfleet is the aging chairman of the Fairfleet Institute, located in the fictional New England town of Northbrook, and a major investor in eighth graders Alex Foster and Asha Singh’s A&A Detective Agency. After Dr. Fairfleet vanishes during a solar eclipse on the kids’ first day of summer vacation, the young detectives receive a letter that includes four names of people connected to the institute: an archivist, a performing arts director, an art museum director, and a natural history museum curator. When Alex and Asha learn that these individuals also received letters with clues, it sends them into mystery-solving overdrive. In the weeks that follow, they encounter literal and metaphorical red herrings as they unearth clues and solve multilayered puzzles connected to the visual arts, Shakespeare, archaeology, history, and more. The winding plot drives the action and excitement, while an emphasis on the characters’ interactions provides relatable snapshots into the tensions that can arise in authentic relationships. Themes relating to morality, bias, and honesty are illustrated through the characters as well as the history the detectives unearth, leaving readers with a satisfying ending, several mysteries solved, and deeper questions to ponder about inheritance, cultural heritage, and record-keeping. Alex is cued white; Asha is Indian American, and there is some racial diversity in the supporting cast.
A complex, cinematic, and eclectic page-turner. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781454950127
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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