Next book

CAMP SHADY CROOK

A summer-camp story that’s just right for summer reading. (Fiction. 9-12)

When a skillful (but lonely) con artist meets up with a clever (but friendless) trickster at summer camp, the outcome is sure to leave other campers suffering misfortune.

Archie Drake’s starting his fourth summer at the woefully run-down Camp Shady Brook, cleverly misguiding other campers into thinking he’s rich—very far from the truth. But the misperceptions help him with his cons, aided by Oliver, a counselor-in-training. And sometimes, Archie even rewards some of the other, poorer campers with bits of his payout, helpfully assuaging his underactive conscience. Vivian Cheng is new to Shady Brook, but she’s there because of a scam she participated in at school that’s left her parents feeling little trust in her. Under Archie’s reluctant tutelage, she readily learns the tricks of the con trade while avoiding the attention of the camp director, the evil “Miss Hiss.” But after the pair challenge each other to con two undeserving campers, the situation quickly spirals out of control, and both begin to experience the hurtful consequences of their acts. Writing alternately in tightly focused third-person from the two protagonists’ points of view, Malone infuses into each enough believable personality to carry the story along to its satisfying conclusion. Vivian’s name suggests she’s Chinese-American, but Archie (and most of the rest of the kids) seems to be default white.

A summer-camp story that’s just right for summer reading. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: May 21, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5344-2226-1

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019

Next book

CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020

Next book

I AM REBEL

Heartwarming fare for young pet owners who feel the love and loyalty going both ways.

Devotion permeates this tale of a small dog who’s swept up in a peasants’ revolt against a greedy king.

Inflamed with righteousness in the wake of yet another tax hike, 12-year-old Tom has defied his parents to slip away and join the revolutionary Reds. Stoutly declaring that he’s a good dog, 5-year-old Rebel chases after him to bring his beloved boy back—and discovers a wide new world beyond the farm, fraught with dangers but also rich in animal friends offering help and advice. Just as beguiling as the furry narrator’s dog’s-eye view of events are his ongoing arguments with Jaxon, a gruff feral hound he meets along the way, who urges him to find his wild inner True Dog. Jaxon’s refusal to be bound by emotional attachments ultimately clashes with Rebel’s big, uncomplicated heart. Following a brush with death, Rebel encounters a mystical Companion, who offers him glimpses of dog heaven; when the climactic battle arrives, Rebel declares, “I get to decide what I do with my one and only life. And if I use it for anything, I’m going to use it for love.” The author brings the odyssey to a satisfactory conclusion with one last, pure affirmation of love. In this story set in an alternate Britain reminiscent of its 17th-century Civil War, Rebel distinguishes humans in the cast by their voices, smell, and dress.

Heartwarming fare for young pet owners who feel the love and loyalty going both ways. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: May 27, 2025

ISBN: 9781536246797

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025

Close Quickview