A fun read for any sleuths-in-training.
Join Paloma Marquez as she solves the mystery of Frida Kahlo’s missing peacock ring.
Biracial Paloma Marquez is a 12-year-old half-Mexican, half-white girl from Kansas City, Kansas. Paloma possesses almost no memories of her deceased father but hopes to reconnect with her Mexican heritage during her first trip to his homeland. While staying in the Coyoacán neighborhood of Mexico City, Paloma explores Casa Azul, artist Frida Kahlo’s childhood home–turned-museum, and instantly becomes a fan of Frida’s artwork. Paloma is supposed to take Spanish classes and art history classes, but there’s a mystery unfolding in Casa Azul. Kahlo’s peacock ring is missing, and it is imperative that Paloma and her new friends, local siblings Gael and Lizzie, find it before it is too late. But Gael and Lizzie, who pose as Paloma’s Spanish tutors from the university, are not who they seem….Paloma is a fan of fictional teen supersleuth Lulu Pennywhistle, who inspires her to try to solve the mystery of the missing peacock ring. The mystery, while engaging, is not particularly intricate. Readers will have little trouble solving it before Paloma and her friends do, making it more an introduction to the genre than one for readers accustomed to it. Spanish is used throughout the text with translations following almost immediately.
A fun read for any sleuths-in-training. (author’s note) (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-15931-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
A fun, interactive read for lovers of the supernatural.
Will’s new town is filled with monsters, mythical creatures, and secrets, but hardly anyone believes him.
When his dad left, life was upended. Now Will and his mom are leaving New York City to move to Massachusetts, far from everything familiar. To his mom, East Emerson is a nice town where they can start fresh, but Will sees unearthly beings and wants to leave. When he’s magically transported to a cemetery and witnesses a terrifying ritual, a mystical fox chants a command to him: “find the animals, destroy the crown. Save the animals, and save the town.” At first Will thinks it was just a nightmare, but when the townspeople’s pets begin to disappear, he starts to suspect something evil is at play. He connects with his new neighbors, adopted siblings Ivy, an athletic girl who can also see monsters, and her genius brother, Linus, who are, respectively, Korean and Black. Together, Will (whose mom is Latina and father is implied White) and his new friends uncover the town’s spooky, mysterious history. This is a fast-paced, exciting first installment in a fantastical series filled with “monsters, myths, magic, and mad science.” Although there are scary parts, the monster narrator interrupts the story to address readers directly, introducing comedic relief. Readers can decipher codes and secret messages throughout the story, adding to the mystery and thrill. Themes of family, navigating change, poverty, listening to feelings, and finding courage are also present.
A fun, interactive read for lovers of the supernatural. (Paranormal. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-335-42487-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
A riveting, courage-filled story.
Grief, memories, and the difficulty of letting go permeate this powerful story about family, friendship, and finding your voice.
Pandita Paul’s Bengali family includes two older twin sisters, Shar and Indy, and their father, Baba, but it has a gaping hole: their late Ma. This chasm is deepened as the nearby abandoned Johnson property, including the orchard Pandu and Ma called Ashar Jaiga, or place of hope, is being sold and developed for rental units. This demolition will take with it Pandu’s sweet recollections of enjoying the orchard’s apricots, flowers, and bird song with Ma. Things are changing too fast for Pandu. Worse, everyone seems to be moving on, including her ex–best friend and even Baba, who is dating The Intruder. But tentative friendships blossom at her summer drama camp even as Pandu, desperately clinging to her memories of Ma, is pitted against her own sister, who advocates for affordable housing in their Silicon Valley community. Set in the 1980s, this beautifully written book weaves together the Indian American Pauls’ personal histories as well as those of the U.S. and India. In trying to save the place she and her mother loved, the 13-year-old embarks on a journey that takes her down pathways of memory of earlier inhabitants of the Johnson house and the region. In doing so, Pandu gives wings to her words and her voice. There’s poetry here, along with literature and lots of culinary heritage, all combining in a deeply compelling read.
A riveting, courage-filled story. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9780374388515
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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