A savvy young gumshoe brightens this lighthearted mystery with charm and panache.
A tween uses her newly acquired ability to see ghosts to try to solve a 20-year-old murder in this debut middle-grade paranormal novel.
Kate Sablowsky doesn’t stay in a new city for long. Her mom, celebrity TV anchor Maria Silver, has a job that moves the family of two from place to place. Ravendale, Iowa, is the latest one, and Kate quickly settles in—except for her new recurring nightmare of being stuck inside a burning building. This dream/vision soon makes sense in an unexpected way once Kate realizes she shares her deceased grandmother’s psychic gift. The 12-year-old tween sees and even speaks with a ghost at school, a girl about the same age. This spirit died in a fire back in 1995 but, thinking it was no accident, asks Kate to investigate and unmask a killer. Resourceful Kate digs into the old case only to make someone nervous, as an anonymous note warns her to stop snooping. But despite the danger, she’s determined to uncover what happened that day two decades ago. Alexander delivers an entertaining series opener. The story boasts several chilling moments, all revolving around Kate’s potential proximity to a murderer. The paranormal bits center on Kate’s gentle, never-scary phantom friend, as this taut, relatively short book doesn’t overpopulate its cast. The story is likewise generally positive, especially when the tenderhearted and respectful young hero basks in her feel-good relationship with her doting mother. Kate’s daily check-in texts are a riot. She lets her mom know that she made it to school with “Followed a trail of candy to an old witch’s house” (Maria’s response: “YUM! Bring me some!”). While the mystery generates some suspects, Kate mostly works with “lackluster proof.” But this amateur sleuth doesn’t even have a driver’s license yet, and readers will surely relish watching her hone her skills in the sequel.
A savvy young gumshoe brightens this lighthearted mystery with charm and panache.Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781957656076
Page Count: 178
Publisher: Monarch Educational Services, L.L.C.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
All-in-good-fun Halloween scares.
In NSYNC singer Bass’ debut picture book, trick-or-treaters follow their fearless leader down Scary Street in search of sweets, or so they think.
On Halloween night, a mischievous child dressed as a wolf, reminiscent of Max from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963), leads a large, racially diverse group of costumed children down Scary Street. The youngster, who narrates, proceeds to bring them to a series of creepy fun house–style homes, including a mansion belonging to a menacingly dapper vampire, who offers “toothy snacks” to the terrified-looking trick-or-treaters, and a gingerbread cottage inhabited by a Cruella de Vil–esque witch, who might prefer to bake little children into her house rather than give them treats. Uh-oh. Now there are only four children following the increasingly unreliable narrator, who ominously repeats, “No tricks allowed, just tasty treats.” As it turns out, the narrator does have a trick in store, which completes the scare and brings the story to a happy conclusion. Bass uses a simple, sometimes uneven rhyme pattern that ranges from interesting combinations (missed is rhymed with resist) to more familiar ones (treats/sweets) with a dash of tongue-in-cheek humor. Garrigue’s atmospheric illustrations have a Coney Island sideshow vibe, created with a candy palette that’s both invitingly tasty and garish in just the right way. The narrator, the vampire, and the witch are light-skinned.
All-in-good-fun Halloween scares. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781454952176
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
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