This newest entry in a dynamic, character-rich middle-grade fiction series doesn’t disappoint.
An orphaned boy in 1930s Pittsburgh faces new dangers and challenges in a continuing series.
Street kid Lewis “Brain” Carter, age 12, and his ragtag Flash Gang first appeared in the launch of Downing and Waugh’s middle-grade fiction series, The Adventures of the Flash Gang: Episode One: Exploding Experiment (2023). Set amid Dickensian realities of poverty and injustice in Depression-era Pittsburgh, it was an impressive debut, offering a smart mix of action and suspense with relatable young characters going up against ruthless moguls, murderers, kidnappers, mobsters, and Nazi sympathizers. In this satisfying sequel, the plot expands and deepens as the stakes are raised even higher for Lewis, who’s now hunkered down in his derelict factory hideout with his kid crew: Duck, Mac, and his best friend, Pearl Alice Clavell, who’s still emulating Lola Lavender, the intrepid hero of her favorite radio show. They’re presumed dead, but their hope that they’ll be able avoid their powerful enemies—including corrupt millionaire Pickering, his murderous henchman Scrugg, and Pearl’s cruel, scheming Aunt Gimlick—is quickly dashed. The malevolent trio have stopped at nothing in their quest to obtain the recipe for a flash-bang explosive that Lewis used as a harmless distraction to steal food for survival. Now, Lewis can’t risk using the flash-bangs that “had made him, only a year before, the most notorious and mysterious food thief in all of Pittsburgh”; as a result, he’s less able to feed himself and others. After Scrugg is released from prison swearing vengeance, questions of loyalty and betrayal threaten the Flash Gang’s solidarity. Also, orphaned street kids are disappearing for a chilling reason, Pearl’s famous, long-absent father returns, and Lewis’ plan to expose criminal behavior in high places, even with the help of a sympathetic reporter, may be impossible.
The authors once again portray Lewis’ world with historical authenticity; they turn real events into compelling plot points as protesting steel workers clash with company thugs, Pittsburgh’s devastating St. Patrick’s Day flood of 1936 is unleashed, and Nazi Germany–inspired fascist groups take root in 1930s America. But these real-life elements don’t compromise the inventive, fictional flow or readers’ ability to relate to the main characters, who act and react according to their own believable personal quirks, strengths, and vulnerabilities. Peripheral players, too, take on more dimension this time around; for example, hard-nosed 15-year-old Dwight, who manages “a battalion of streeters,” proves that he’s more than just a shill for mob boss Fat Joe when he plays a key role in a daring rescue effort. The desire by many of the seemingly self-sufficient, impoverished youth to be cared for by a real family—even as they form found families of their own—is a poignant undercurrent. The book ends, as the first one did, with a suspenseful preview of what’s to come, and it’s a jaw-dropper, with a shocking revelation that will send Lewis and Pearl on a voyage to a deadly destination that neither of them could have imagined.
This newest entry in a dynamic, character-rich middle-grade fiction series doesn’t disappoint.Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781646034031
Page Count: 218
Publisher: Fitzroy Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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