A satisfying conclusion to a worthy series.
The conclusion of a trilogy that began with Bone’s Gift (2018).
It’s now December 1942, and the coal town of Big Vein, Virginia, is preparing for Christmas when the mine whistle blows, signaling disaster. This time, though, all the miners are safe and accounted for—but there’s a dead body in the mine, covered in rock dust, head crushed beyond recognition. When the corpse is discovered to be wearing a World War I dog tag that belonged to Bone’s uncle Ash, who’d left town a few weeks earlier, a black man named Tiny Sherman is arrested for his murder. Uncle Ash always forbade Bone to touch the two dog tags he wore, not wanting her psychic gifts to allow her to see the memories they contained, but now Uncle Junior asks her to. The memories she sees aren’t from Uncle Ash—whose are they? Bone seeks the truth while Mr. Hill, an African American attorney, works for Sherman’s release. Smibert packs a lot into the story, told, as always, in the third person from Bone’s perspective. Her characters—mostly white—and setting are fully evoked, and her language is both thoughtful and precise. The plot hinges on the presumption that the body is Uncle Ash’s, which doesn’t feel entirely believable—but the paranormal parts, including the appearance of a mysterious ghost dog, ring true. Smibert has a talent for ghost stories.
A satisfying conclusion to a worthy series. (historical notes) (Historical/paranormal fiction. 8-14)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62979-852-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit...
The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.
Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 1989
ISBN: 0547577095
Page Count: 156
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart.
A group of bright friends tackles the puzzle of their lives.
Elmwood, New Hampshire, 11-year-old Gina Sparks is small in stature but big on reporting ongoing dramas for the local newspaper with support from her journalist mom. When an unbelievable scoop comes her way, Gina must rely on her tightknit crew of sixth grade best friends whose initials happen to spell GEEK, a label they choose to proudly reclaim. She and science-minded prankster Elena Hernández, theater kid Edgar Feingarten, and driven math genius Kevin Robinson decide to get to the bottom of things when they learn that the Van Houten Toy & Game Company heir made elaborate plans to leave everything to the town of Elmwood before her death—but only if a member of the community could solve an intricate multistep puzzle. Gina hopes that deciphering the clues and finding the missing fortune will be just the thing to revitalize the down-on-its-luck town and bring the Elmwood Tribune back into the black, saving her mom’s job and Gina’s passion project. The GEEKs work together, using their individual talents and deductive reasoning skills to unravel the mystery. Infused with media literacy pointers, such as the difference between fact and opinion and reminders to avoid bias when reporting, the story encourages readers to think critically. Gina and Edgar read as White; Elena is cued as Latinx, and Kevin is implied Black.
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37793-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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