A toothsome treat for mystery fans.
Accompanied by best bud Oscar Delgado and sharp-nosed Carnegie the terrier, 11-year-old gumshoe Elodie LaRue takes on an especially sticky case.
Elodie, who lives at the Biltmore—an opulent apartment building on New York City’s Upper West Side—already has two solved mysteries under her belt, so she’s sure she can help when she’s approached by Sebastian. A young man from Coney Island with bleached blond hair, piercings, and tattoos, Sebastian has an urgent case. His binder of recipes has gone missing—including one for a “cruffin” (a pastry/muffin mashup) he believes will guarantee the success of his nascent bakery. Detection again proves an exercise in careful observation and logical thinking, and attentive readers will spot the clue that helps Elodie figure it all out. In this installment, Elodie becomes more self-assured, and Oscar takes on more of the detecting work, with Elodie’s proud approval. Nelson’s lively writing and expert pacing sustain just-right tension while adding vocabulary-fortifying words like bravado and doppelgänger. Sprinklings of wisdom flavor the text: Vulnerability is normal, failure is OK, and life’s essential ingredients are self-confidence, friends, and imagination. Collins’ colorful art is as delicious as ever, depicting racially diverse, distinctive characters old and young. References to Manhattan institutions such as Zabar’s, as well as the inclusion of the Pawtographer—a pet photographer based on the real-life social media account the Dogist—make for a readily recognizable depiction of a modern-day New York City.
A toothsome treat for mystery fans. (author’s note) (Mystery. 7-11)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781772783483
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Pajama Press
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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