Readers who have come this far with the series will find themselves giggling over Sesame’s good-natured bossiness and her...
That precocious sleuth on roller skates, Sophie “Sesame” Seade, attempts to track down the source of the bug that is making the Cambridge rowing team sick on the eve of its race with Oxford.
Sesame “works” as her undergraduate friend Jeremy’s investigative reporter for his UniGossip newspaper. Her native intelligence and determination are nicely combined with her penchant for hyperbole, exaggeration, and exasperation with the slow pace of those around her. The result is a wonderfully impertinent first-person voice traveling at speed and pitched directly to the intended audience of bright preteens. The young heroine’s middle school–style wisecracking is relentless and very often hilarious as she and best friends Troy and Gemma search for possible villains. Their discovery of a pirate chest hidden in the reeds along the riverbank, an encounter with a family of merchants who’ve noticed jewelry going missing from their barge, and a Nancy Drew–like kidnapping of the heroine offer plenty of misdirection and opportunities for speculation. Horne’s cartoon illustrations throughout emphasize the slightly looney charm of the young detective and her exploits, depicting Sesame and Troy as white and Gemma with East Asian features. The singular landmarks of the university, its town, and its traditions are scattered through the narrative—obstacles as often as not to Sesame’s successful detective work.
Readers who have come this far with the series will find themselves giggling over Sesame’s good-natured bossiness and her impressive snooping skills. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: April 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3630-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Readers will be hoping for an equally savvy Book 3
Third-grade sleuths Smashie McPerter and Dontel Marquise are back.
Having found classroom pet Patches in Smashie McPerter and the Mystery of Room 11 (2015), the best friends step up again when a classmate’s delicious-smelling “lengthening and molding” hair goop goes missing, threatening the success of the Third-Grade Hair Extravaganza and Musicale. Who could be taking the few precious jars of Herr Goop? Smashie, a white girl who tends to get carried away, and Dontel, a black boy who tends not to, consider motive and opportunity and work to solve the mystery even as the third-graders practice and they themselves choreograph go-go dances to be staged between each act. Griffin concocts a baroque plot involving a secret code credibly based on third-grade math and tells it with SAT–level vocabulary. She contextualizes that vocabulary carefully, sequencing sentences to prepare readers for it. Kids who understand how hard it is for Smashie and Dontel “to join a line of children who were all mad at them” will see how the “frostiness” might be “palpable.” Even if Smashie and her pals don’t talk like 8-year-olds, though, they behave like them, getting carried away with endearing earnestness. Griffin also subtly attacks stereotypes with her multiethnic group of hugely likable kids. Dontel’s dad is a dentist, and a Latina student’s mom is a patent attorney—a fact that also figures into the plot.
Readers will be hoping for an equally savvy Book 3 . (Mystery. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8535-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A funny, fast-paced mystery with many Singapore-specific details that provide cultural flavor.
A new kid-detective series offers a cross-cultural twist.
Samuel Tan Cher Lock is a Chinese boy growing up in Singapore. He prefers to go by Sherlock Sam after his hero, Sherlock Holmes. While ever hungry narrator Sam will be familiar to many food-crazy Singaporeans, American readers may get frustrated at the numerous unfamiliar terms such as kaya toast and Khong Guan biscuits (“biscuits” actually refers to cookies); the lengthy and informative glossary will help. Hopefully Sam's knack for digging up details and smart deductions will keep readers flipping the pages. Regardless, this food-related mystery is a perfect introduction to the series. Auntie Kim Lian has promised to cook Sam’s favorite dish, ayam buah keluak (chicken cooked in black nut sauce), but her family cookbook is missing and she can’t make it without the recipe! Sam is determined to find the cookbook and have ayam buah keluak for dinner. Together with his crew—wisecracking robot Watson, big sister Wendy, and classmate Jimmy—Sam retraces Auntie Kim Lian’s steps all over the Katong neighborhood. After a day of sleuthing, everyone is ready to give up. However, Sherlock Sam has a stroke of genius and solves the mystery—at a restaurant no less! In addition to a smattering of black-and-white line drawings that liven up the story, the glossary in the back explains both the Singapore slang and foods mentioned in the book. The sequel, Sherlock Sam and the Ghostly Moans in Fort Canning, publishes simultaneously.
A funny, fast-paced mystery with many Singapore-specific details that provide cultural flavor. (list of characters) (Mystery. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4494-7789-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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