An appealing ghost story with a high-spirited cast of characters.
A ragtag group fights to save a historically significant and decidedly haunted hotel in Gorder’s debut middle-grade novel.
Junior high school history teacher Ryan Kelly has long championed the Elk Grove Hotel; it’s a valuable piece of history, giving the California city of Elk Grove its name. But some residents of the city want it torn down to make room for a golf course. No one, it seems, wants the hotel gone more than Mayor Matt Fox. Decades ago, when they were 11 years old, he and Ryan snuck inside the hotel and encountered two ghosts who pleaded for the boys’ help to protect their home. The experience inspired Ryan to ensure no harm comes to the old building, but it completely unnerved young Matt. In the present day, Ryan’s students Amelia, Zoey, TJ, and Sophia explore the hotel. They surmise that Big Bob Thornton, a prospector killed at the hotel in the mid-19th century, had hidden gold nuggets there. The kids believe that if they can unearth these treasures, using clues Bob left behind for his fiancee, maybe they can save the hotel. The author’s prospective series launch is a short, diverting mystery with a well-developed, entertaining cast of junior high school students. The kids supply much of the family-friendly humor, from goofy insults (“ ‘I don’t recall anything scaring us,’ TJ lied. ‘Just your ugly face in my selfie!’ Sophia replied, holding her phone out to him”) to a couple of prank-loving pals with a misguided resolve to build a skate park instead of the golf course. Peterson’s black-and-white pen-and-ink illustrations sublimely depict the hotel and characters, some of whom, such as Elk Grove Hotel founder James Hall, Gorder based on actual people. The novel ends on a minor cliffhanger ready for a sequel to address.
An appealing ghost story with a high-spirited cast of characters.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2023
ISBN: 9781954779730
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Emerald Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
© 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.
