Combining chewing gum and gumshoes, this comical mystery begs to be read aloud.
Preteen detective Nelle battles organized crime during her city’s prohibition on candy.
From the start, snappy dialogue and mannered narration spoofs the traditions of film noir when 12-year-old candy smuggler Eddie de Menthe hires private detective Nelle Faulkner, also 12, to find a missing teddy bear while a candy prohibition hangs over their neighborhood. As Nelle pursues leads in a playground hideout, store backroom, and lonely mansion, she encounters more kid bootleggers as well as crooked adults also on the hunt for the missing teddy bear. Similarities to the real Prohibition reveal government corruption and the difficulties inherent in denying a population what it wants. When Eddie also goes missing, Nelle’s case turns to recovering a candy fortune, locating a hidden chocolatier, and restoring peace—and all kinds of sweets—to her sugar-starved city. Food fights, an abandoned candy factory break-in, and more sweets-themed antics add to the fun and intrigue. Breaking up a mostly white cast is Nelle’s South Asian friend, Bobbie Singh, who’s also integrally connected to the illegal candy trade. In film-noir fashion, grayscale cartoons highlight Nelle’s escapades and exaggerate the criminals. While poking fun at the genre, in his debut for children, thriller writer Tidhar also recognizes young people’s need for respect.
Combining chewing gum and gumshoes, this comical mystery begs to be read aloud. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-197-3
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
A candid and powerful reckoning of history.
Summer is off to a terrible start for 12-year old African-American Candice Miller.
Six months after her parents’ divorce, Candice and her mother leave Atlanta to spend the summer in Lambert, South Carolina, at her grandmother’s old house. When her grandmother Abigail passed two years ago, in 2015, Candice and her mother struggled to move on. Now, without any friends, a computer, cellphone, or her grandmother, Candice suffers immense loneliness and boredom. When she starts rummaging through the attic and stumbles upon a box of her grandmother’s belongings, she discovers an old letter that details a mysterious fortune buried in Lambert and that asks Abigail to find the treasure. After Candice befriends the shy, bookish African-American kid next door, 11-year-old Brandon Jones, the pair set off investigating the clues. Each new revelation uncovers a long history of racism and tension in the small town and how one family threatened the black/white status quo. Johnson’s latest novel holds racism firmly in the light. Candice and Brandon discover the joys and terrors of the reality of being African-American in the 1950s. Without sugarcoating facts or dousing it in post-racial varnish, the narrative lets the children absorb and reflect on their shared history. The town of Lambert brims with intrigue, keeping readers entranced until the very last page.
A candid and powerful reckoning of history. (Historical mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-545-94617-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
PROFILES
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans.
Only children, rejoice! A cozy mystery just for you! (People with siblings will probably enjoy it too.)
Debut novelist Cornett introduces the One and Onlys, a trio of mystery-solving only kids: Gloria Longshanks “Shanks” Hill, Alexander “Peephole” Calloway, and narrator Paul (alas, no nickname) Marconi. The trio has a knack for finding and solving low-level mysteries, but they come up against a true head-scratcher when the yard of a resident of their small town is covered in rubber ducks overnight. Working ahead of Officer Portnoy, who’s a little on the slow side, can Paul, Shanks, and Peephole solve the mystery? Cornett has a lot of fun with this adventure, dropping additional side mysteries, a subplot about small businesses, big corporations, and economics, and a town’s love of bratwurst into the mix. Most importantly, he plays fair with the clues throughout, allowing astute readers to potentially solve the case ahead of the trio. The tone and mystery are perfect for younger readers who want to test their detective skills but are put off by anything scary or gory. The pacing would serve well for chapter-by-chapter read-alouds. If there are any quibbles, it’s the lack of diversity of the cast, as it defaults white. Diversity exists in small towns, and this one is crying out for more. Hopefully a sequel will introduce additional faces.
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3003-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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