Short and sweet, this book is a good choice for reluctant and early readers, while its humorous content will appeal to fans...
A bilingual early chapter book inducts a new character into the pantheon of precocious child detectives.
Detective Flaca is an 8-year-old gumshoe. In this first offering, readers are privy to three of her cases, involving a missing chancleta (or flip-flop), deadly oranges and disappearing salsa (of the dance, not the food, variety), respectively. Geared toward an audience that appreciates snarky humor rather than hard-core mystery fans, all three cases are the result of comedic misunderstandings on the part of Detective Flaca and are “solved” by her learning the truth in each situation. Vicente does a commendable job of including the meanings of Spanish words within the text in such a manner that non-Spanish speakers should easily be able to understand them without the need for a glossary (which is good, since there isn’t one). While Detective Flaca’s language and thought processes belie her age, the stories themselves are entertaining enough to allow readers to suspend disbelief. Baeza Ventura’s Spanish translation of the story follows the English rendition.
Short and sweet, this book is a good choice for reluctant and early readers, while its humorous content will appeal to fans of comedy. Chuckle-inducing fun. (Mystery. 6-9)Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55885-779-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
This series opener is a promising venture into early Matt Christopher territory.
When a mysterious saboteur threatens to shut down their school’s Olympic games, five young athletes put on their detective shoes.
Classmates Max, Alice, Nico, and twins Luke and Kat—a diverse crew, to judge from Brundage’s introductory portrait gallery and frequent, realistically drawn illustrations—are looking forward to their respective events in Franklin Elementary’s upcoming annual Olympics. But someone is sending threatening notes to the faculty organizers, and once the games begin, oiled grass on the relay route and a tug of war rope that is partially cut lead to dangerous falls. Who could the culprit be? Gathering fingerprints and other evidence, the young sleuths work together to eliminate one suspect and at last catch another red-handed. They are less successful in winning medals, but at the ensuing ceremony they earn a special “MVP” award for saving the games and decide to form a club. Along with plenty of sports action and sterling detective work to appreciate, Kelly offers readers a chance to ponder the contrast between the priorities of the culprit, a multimedalist from the previous year jealously unwilling to be upstaged, and Nico, who abruptly quits a race he’s about to win when he spots the saboteur at work. A quick set of facts and photos from the official Olympic Games cap this series opener.
This series opener is a promising venture into early Matt Christopher territory. (Mystery/sports fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: May 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-51319-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
Move over, Holmes and Watson. There’s a new detecting pair in town, and the name’s Bland.
Magicians are supposed to disappear, but this one may have a hard time coming back.
Once again white sisters Jaundice and Kale would like nothing better than to stay at home darning socks and tying knots. Once again their parents won’t let them. Having already been shanghaied by pirates (The Jolly Regina, 2017), the last thing they’d expect is to be swept onto a fast-moving train by Magique, a magician sent by their parents. And the next-to-last thing they’d expect would be for Magique to disappear, perhaps permanently, while they’re en route to the Uncanny Valley. Soon they find themselves assisting illustriously mustachioed Hugo Fromage, detective extraordinaire. It’s a train full of suspects, and no one is quite what they seem. The sudden turn the series takes into murder-mystery territory comes as a nice counterweight to its previous swashbuckling adventure. LaReau has a lot of fun with her Agatha Christie homage, filling her book to the brim with requisite gags and puns. The Bland sisters live up to their names (“I’m not myself until I’ve had my plain oatmeal and weak, tepid tea”), counterintuitively enlivening the narrative with their over-the-top despondency. Granted, kids hoping for further piratical fare may be disappointed, but the jokes and charming pen-and-ink cartoons (which depict a multicultural cast) will pad the blow.
Move over, Holmes and Watson. There’s a new detecting pair in town, and the name’s Bland. (Mystery. 7-9)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2568-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
