A smart, standout mystery that’s cleverly delineated with equal parts charm and care.
Middle school sleuths Asha Singh and Alex Foster expand their circle and their knowledge of history in this thrilling second series entry.
Someone claiming to be “the Witch of Waverly College” is leaving clues for town leaders to find, including one delivered via a rock thrown through a window with a cryptic note attached. The chairman of the local Fairfleet Institute is given until Halloween to solve the mystery, and he asks the tween detectives (who are well respected from solving a previous case) for their help. Robberies of mausoleums have also occurred at the Willow Grove Cemetery, and all signs connect them to the story of a 1690 witch trial (two years before the famous events in Salem), during which local woman Hannah Grimthorpe was tried and executed. With many of their eccentric mentors unavailable to help, Alex (who reads white) and Asha (who’s Indian American) learn to lean on others as their tightknit friendship, and their detective agency, both grow. With support from their community, basset hound Aggie, and skills learned in middle school, they ultimately solve the case. Rich descriptive language elevates the well-paced plot and immersive setting. The large cast of racially diverse characters engage in smart, punchy dialogue and show moments of sincere accountability and reflection. The story’s deeper themes—including the nature of truth and the questioning of legacies—are rooted in relevant, present-day realities.
A smart, standout mystery that’s cleverly delineated with equal parts charm and care. (binary and Morse code guides) (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781454950158
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
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
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