A remarkable cast and pleasantly snowy backdrop elevate this quiet mystery.
In this third installment of Chalmers’ middle-grade series, youngsters investigate thievery and avian deaths during a winter storm.
Eleven-year-old Berend “Bear” Houtman looks forward to a week on Oxbow Island in Maine—notwithstanding the impending blizzard—because it means spending more time with his beloved grandmother Sally Parker and tween friend Olivia Anaya. Unsurprisingly, the vicious December storm buries the island in three feet of snow and knocks out power, turning a simple trip to a local store into an arduous expedition. This doesn’t stop Olivia, however, from going ahead with a planned fundraiser at a local restaurant.She hopes to raise money for more accessible trails for such townsfolk as her dad, Victor, who’s used a wheelchair since suffering a major injury six years ago. The fundraiser gets a good turnout of townsfolk, who fill a giant pickle jar with donations, but later that night, the jar mysteriously disappears. Around the same time, Bear runs across dead crows in the area and suspects that someone is purposely killing them. He’s determined to track down the perpetrator while also helping Olivia hunt for the donations thief. Bear has a suspect in mind in each case but needs to find solid proof before he heads back home to Massachusetts. The snowy setting in Chalmers’ book sets an irresistible mood, and as characters trudge through snow and wrap themselves in quilts, readers may feel compelled to slip on an extra pair of socks themselves. As the author sublimely writes, “With each gust of wind, sparkly snow drifted from the tree branches onto their heads.” Bear is immensely likable, even when whip-smart Sally and Olivia set him straight after he leaps to conclusions. The mystery is sound, although the kids do little in the way of piecing together clues. The story perfectly captures a close-knit community, as do Hogan’s fine black-and-white illustrations, which depict such things as a cozy woodstove, surrounding woods, and handwritten notes on storefronts.
A remarkable cast and pleasantly snowy backdrop elevate this quiet mystery.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 185
Publisher: Maine Authors Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best.
Friendly curiosity and a gift for naming earn a polar bear an assortment of (mostly animal) friends, adventures, mishaps, and discoveries.
Arriving at a northern ocean, Duane spies a shipwreck. Swimming out to investigate, he meets its lone occupant, C.C., a learned snowy owl whose noble goal is acquiring knowledge to apply “toward the benefit of all.” Informing Duane that he’s a polar bear, she points out a nearby cave that might suit him—it even has a mattress. Adding furnishings from the wreck—the grandfather clock’s handless, but who needs to tell time when it’s always now?—he meets a self-involved musk ox, entranced by his own reflection, who’s delighted when Duane names him “Handsome.” As he comes to understand, then appreciate their considerable diversity, Duane brings out the best in his new friends. C.C., who has difficulty reading emotions and dislikes being touched, evokes the autism spectrum. Magic, a bouncy, impulsive arctic fox, manifests ADHD. Major Puff, whose proud puffin ancestry involves courageous retreats from danger, finds a perfect companion in Twitch, a risk-aware, common-sensical hare. As illustrated, Sun Girl, a human child, appears vaguely Native, and Squint, a painter, white, but they’re sui generis: The Canadian author avoids referencing human culture. The art conveys warmth in an icy setting; animal characters suggest beloved stuffed toys, gently reinforcing the message that friendship founded on tolerance breeds comfort and safety.
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best. (Animal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3341-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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