A fun and fast minimystery for young readers.
A middle school sleuth must clear a new classmate’s name in Fink’s novel for preteens.
McKinney—Mickie McKinney, to be exact—takes his gig as a gumshoe very seriously. Wearing his signature hat and blowing bubbles from his pipe, he’s highly in demand at Maple Ridge Middle School, decoding mystery meatloaf ingredients and locating lost felines for his classmates in exchange for candy bars and other treats. He even has a staff member: child genius Jamie “Burners” Burns, who can always be found in the science lab. One morning, it’s business as usual for Mickie until a tall blond girl stomps into his classroom wearing fatigues and heavy boots. New to the small town of Maple Ridge, Vermont, by way of Fort Carson, Colorado, the girl doesn’t talk much, but Mickie is intrigued, especially after she rescues him from the clutches of school bully (and Cheese Nubs lover) Tommy Tubbins. The next day, the kids’ teacher Miss Caverly finds missing test answers in the new girl’s backpack—and immediately sends her to the principal’s office. Mickie knows something’s up: Why would a brand-new student, especially one with zero tolerance for bullies, immediately make major trouble for herself? Can the brainy Burns help? Or will this mystery be too much for the wily young Mickie? This is the first of Fink’s Mickie McKinney series, with a second due out this summer, and its mystery is simple and on target for its audience without talking down to them. Mickie, the first-person narrator, has a funny, distinctive voice (though the author repeats his signature catchphrase a bit too often) as well as secrets of his own that may be revealed in later volumes. Discussion topics and comprehension questions at the end—and illustrations throughout—make this an excellent choice for school libraries and reading programs.
A fun and fast minimystery for young readers.Pub Date: May 27, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 50
Publisher: Faux Fiction Audio
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart.
A group of bright friends tackles the puzzle of their lives.
Elmwood, New Hampshire, 11-year-old Gina Sparks is small in stature but big on reporting ongoing dramas for the local newspaper with support from her journalist mom. When an unbelievable scoop comes her way, Gina must rely on her tightknit crew of sixth grade best friends whose initials happen to spell GEEK, a label they choose to proudly reclaim. She and science-minded prankster Elena Hernández, theater kid Edgar Feingarten, and driven math genius Kevin Robinson decide to get to the bottom of things when they learn that the Van Houten Toy & Game Company heir made elaborate plans to leave everything to the town of Elmwood before her death—but only if a member of the community could solve an intricate multistep puzzle. Gina hopes that deciphering the clues and finding the missing fortune will be just the thing to revitalize the down-on-its-luck town and bring the Elmwood Tribune back into the black, saving her mom’s job and Gina’s passion project. The GEEKs work together, using their individual talents and deductive reasoning skills to unravel the mystery. Infused with media literacy pointers, such as the difference between fact and opinion and reminders to avoid bias when reporting, the story encourages readers to think critically. Gina and Edgar read as White; Elena is cued as Latinx, and Kevin is implied Black.
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37793-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this...
Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar (Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.).
Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles.
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 978-0-374-33265-5
Page Count: 233
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
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