A bittersweet ending completes the story’s magic and mystery.
An orphan girl discovers her true identity with the help of a ghost, an elephant, and the wind.
Seven years ago, an approximately 5-year-old white girl was found by an employee in the Omaha zoo’s elephant habitat following a tornado. After efforts to locate her family led nowhere, the zoo employee, a white man named Roger, called the girl Lexington after the zoo and became her guardian. Rimington sets this poignant novel when Lex and Roger figure she is 12. Refusing to go to public school, Lex remains mostly isolated at the zoo, much like her favorite character, Karana, from Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins (1960). Readers familiar with this Newbery winner will notice many interesting parallels between the orphaned girls. Lex’s day-to-day activities consist of her routine with Roger; hanging out with best friend and fellow zoo resident Fisher, a boy with mixed Thai and white heritage; communing with Nyah, the elephant who saved her the night of the tornado; and listening to the wind. These latter fantastical elements come into the fore when Lexington begins seeing Miss Amanda, the “misplaced spirit” (please, don’t call her “ghost”) of a Southern white woman who has lost some treasure. Soon, an already engaging tale of life at a zoo turns into a mystery, with Lex and Fisher’s efforts not only to locate Miss Amanda’s treasure, but also to recover Lex’s identity in the process. The book adheres to the white default.
A bittersweet ending completes the story’s magic and mystery. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-12122-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A riddling, sporting adventure and a story of true friendship.
“Like three sides of the same triangle, none of us can imagine what life would be like if we weren’t together.”
Sarah, West, and Hannah have been an intrepid trio since they first met. They bring their passion for math and numbers and their perfectly aligned strengths to solving escape rooms. With a foreclosure looming on Sarah’s family home—which would mean moving to live with her grandparents in Michigan—the only solution is to seek out the rumored Triplet Treasure belonging to Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein. The treasure is supposedly hidden in a long-abandoned fun house they built in the 1950s. To outmaneuver the triplets’ ingenious riddles and tricks, the friends will need to overcome personal obstacles and unlock the doors within themselves. While the stakes are high, it’s reassuring for readers to know that Sarah’s family has a place to go, even if it’s far away from her friends. Early chapters detail the health challenges faced by Sarah’s father; his chronic illness has placed a strain on the family’s finances. Currie sets up a moving metaphor: Sarah’s enthusiasm for escape rooms becomes a means of tackling the unsolvable puzzle that has left her parent confined to his own inescapable room. This topic is treated with a gentle touch, but Sarah’s emotional depths could have been explored more deeply; West’s and Hannah’s emotional arcs are fulfilling, however. Main characters read white.
A riddling, sporting adventure and a story of true friendship. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781728259536
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
A slowly unfurling delight.
A missing painting, a floating girl, and a mustachioed man: a lonely almost-12-year-old vows to figure it all out.
Middle school has been terrible for Rami Ahmed, and now a painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum, where his mother works as the cleaning crew supervisor. Only the cleaning crew, Ed the security guard, and Rami himself were in the building on the day of the painting’s disappearance. As the theft draws unprecedented interest in the small, largely overlooked museum, the pressure of suspicion starts to grow. When a mysterious girl appears to Rami in the museum—and he recognizes her as the girl who’s portrayed in the stolen painting—he’s certain that she holds the key to its whereabouts. After Rami joins forces with Indian American classmate Veda, an aspiring sleuth, he finds himself in increasingly unexpected situations. The mystery drives this exquisitely paced story that unfolds in short chapters that readers will quickly consume. The characters, though, are the beating heart of this tender, quiet tale. From Rami, the only child of a now-single immigrant mother from Lebanon, to the museum director, who “had that accent that most rich people do…fancy and well educated,” to Agatha, the sun-seeking turtle from the garden by the Penelope who observes, learns, and wants to give joy—each character is drawn with texture, depth, and warmth. Rockefeller’s evocative illustrations enhance the text.
A slowly unfurling delight. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780062956705
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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