An engaging mystery that affirms the benefits of parental encouragement, empathy, and problem-solving.
Kids discover buried Indigenous artifacts and help investigate when thieves rob the site in Landry’s middle-grade novel.
Living on a houseboat, five siblings—studious, science-oriented Beth, 14; bookworm and inventor Mark, 13; spirited, outdoors-loving Timothy, 10; shy and independent Ann, 8; and animal and insect fan Sam, 7—go adventuring at low tide. Digging in the exposed mud, they uncover long-buried arrowheads, tools, and pottery at what may have been a sacred site long ago. They report their find to their parents and to Joe, a member of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. While he consults university experts, Joe asks the children to research the archives at the local courthouse and library to see what they can learn about tribes that had inhabited the area. Afterward, the siblings and their parents compare notes at a new pizza place. (But was a waiter paying too much attention to their conversation?) The next day, when the preservation of the site is to begin, the children are shocked: It’s full of freshly dug holes, “mud had been thrown everywhere, and not a single artifact remained.” Recovering the historical items will require all five siblings, including some well-timed slingshot expertise from Timothy, Ann, and Sam. In this fast-moving, education-based mystery for tweens, the reader is sure to identify with at least one of the characters among the five endearing young people keen to solve the crime. According to the author’s note, his Cajun Kids Adventures books, including Adventure in the Wild (2022) and The Cup, the Cap and the Ring-tailed Monkey (2023), are “loosely based on the experiences, challenges and shenanigans of his children’s unique upbringing” in South Louisiana. His appreciation for life in this wetland area of the United States lends descriptive depth to this chapter book: “The lush, thick greenery lining the banks of the rivers and bayous would soon transform into hues of orange and red. Alligators and turtles basking in the sun would begin to nest for the winter, ushering in” the return of “ducks and other waterfowl.”
An engaging mystery that affirms the benefits of parental encouragement, empathy, and problem-solving.Pub Date: July 30, 2022
ISBN: 9798985639902
Page Count: 186
Publisher: SmallPub
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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