Adventures beguilingly rich and strange beneath a series of “full-ish” moons.
An anxious child finds a friend, a secret circus, and a mystery to solve in 19th-century Prague.
Ema Vašková has been gifted with an education in the sciences by her 11 older siblings, has uncommon knacks for reading faces and entering rooms unnoticed, falls into fugue states when she’s thinking hard, and possesses the inner stuff to face her fears—given proper prodding. That prodding initially comes from mysterious and wild-spirited Silvie, a girl who leads her on a series of thrillingly daring nighttime adventures…and then disappears suddenly. Screwing her courage to the sticking place, Ema sets out alone to track her down and, after clever sleuthing, discovers a subterranean carnival of illusions and pseudoscientific marvels with which Silvie was somehow involved—and which is in turmoil following the supposedly accidental death of a resident ghost whisperer. Along with narrow squeaks and daring exploits, the author tucks in subtle cues and clues on the way to a classic whodunit climax in which Ema gathers cast members into a room to rehearse the evidence and not only exposes the guilty to vindicate her friend, but, most significantly, satisfies a deep yearning to be seen by her busy but, as it turns out, educable parents. Ema leads a cast that largely presents White. Tooke’s afterword suggests that her protagonist is, like herself, neurodivergent; she demonstrates positive attributes that accompany a label that is often framed in terms of difficulties.
Adventures beguilingly rich and strange beneath a series of “full-ish” moons. (Adventure. 9-13)Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-11696-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
An environmental mystery featuring lots of clever detecting, a bit of danger, and real felonies to investigate.
Toxic waste dumped in the Everglades gives a quartet of middle school sleuths their first case.
Leading Carl Hiaasen fans over familiar ground, Ponti pitches 12-year-old Alex Sherlock and his 13-year-old sister, Zoe, with school friends Lina and Yadi as sidekicks, into a summer caper. It all begins with the hunt for a supposed fortune buried decades ago by Al Capone, culminates in a narrow escape from an exploding yacht, and ultimately exposes a smooth-talking bad actor shady enough to bring in even federal authorities. As the kids’ live-in Grandpa, a retired investigative reporter, delivers pointers on how to conduct interviews and sift evidence while grandly driving them around South Florida in his classic Cadillac, Roberta, the budding detectives display sharp wits, eyes, and negotiating skills. The last come in particularly useful when they’re dealing with their lawyer…who’s also their mom. Both the plot and the chain of evidence take logical courses, and since Dad is a marine biologist and Lina’s a recent transplant from Wyoming, Ponti is able to use their dialogue to highlight the local culture and larger ecological issues. Main characters present white, apart from tech wiz Yadi, who is cued Latine.
An environmental mystery featuring lots of clever detecting, a bit of danger, and real felonies to investigate. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781665932530
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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