Young readers will enjoy this engaging mystery with a complex protagonist.
In Roberts’ middle-grade novel, a girl is uprooted from her North Carolina home to a small Midwestern town where she deals with a new middle school, new bullies—and a possibly haunted observatory.
Nine-year-old Cecilia “CeCe” Laurance’s excitement for her first day of sixth grade is interrupted by the news that her dad has just been hired for a new job at an observatory—and it’s not located in their home state. Instead of taking classes with her friends, being part of the soccer team, and trying out for “upper band,” CeCe is reluctantly moving to Forest Town, Missouri, a place so small that it doesn’t even have a movie theater. She learns upon arrival that the family is going to live in an old house connected to the observatory that’s rumored to have ghosts. When she meets some friendly soccer-playing kids who go to her new school—Analise, Gia, and Jaxon—she thinks maybe the move won’t be so bad. Soon, however, soccer goalie and resident mean girl Mercedes deals a blow to CeCe’s self-confidence, shoving her during soccer practice and spreading rumors about her house. Unwilling to be cowed, CeCe wonders where the idea of her house having a ghost came from; after she experiences strange chills and hears mysterious voices, she suspects there might be some truth to it. Roberts effectively captures the thought processes of a tween navigating the stressors of moving, making friends, and acclimating to a new school. CeCe is a well-rounded protagonist with a variety of interests that Roberts ably balances as the story goes on; her girls’ soccer league dreams comfortably sit beside her love of science, which she shares with her astronomer father. The rest of the cast members aren’t sketched out in such detail, but they still serve their narrative purposes well. The potential haunting makes for an intriguing mystery, although its resolution isn’t as intriguing as its setup. Overall, CeCe’s journey is one that many kids will find relatable, and it’s sure to grab and keep their attention.
Young readers will enjoy this engaging mystery with a complex protagonist.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2024
ISBN: 978-1959548294
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Solander Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Thought-provoking and charming.
A sophisticated robot—with the capacity to use senses of sight, hearing, and smell—is washed to shore on an island, the only robot survivor of a cargo of 500.
When otters play with her protective packaging, the robot is accidently activated. Roz, though without emotions, is intelligent and versatile. She can observe and learn in service of both her survival and her principle function: to help. Brown links these basic functions to the kind of evolution Roz undergoes as she figures out how to stay dry and intact in her wild environment—not easy, with pine cones and poop dropping from above, stormy weather, and a family of cranky bears. She learns to understand and eventually speak the language of the wild creatures (each species with its different “accent”). An accident leaves her the sole protector of a baby goose, and Roz must ask other creatures for help to shelter and feed the gosling. Roz’s growing connection with her environment is sweetly funny, reminiscent of Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. At every moment Roz’s actions seem plausible and logical yet surprisingly full of something like feeling. Robot hunters with guns figure into the climax of the story as the outside world intrudes. While the end to Roz’s benign and wild life is startling and violent, Brown leaves Roz and her companions—and readers—with hope.
Thought-provoking and charming. (Science fiction/fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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