Unique children’s lit that cleverly tackles interest rates, endowments, fluctuating commodities, bullying and identity.
A smart kid with a head for numbers takes on a corrupt Wall Street banker, in Everett’s debut middle-grade reader.
Toby Gold, orphaned at birth, is found in a green leather handbag. He takes his name from the word “Tobias,” written on a slip of paper lying at the bottom of the bag and the unusual gold marking on the iris of his left eye. Passed from one foster family to another, young Toby longs for a stable home but finds himself going from bad to worse when he moves into his 10th house, where foster brother Eddie makes his life a misery and steals his weekly allowance. Resourceful Toby gets a job walking the dogs of a local banker and, after exacting his revenge on Eddie with the help of his friends and some chocolate pudding (so effectively in fact that the young bully hardly utters another word for the entire book), he starts to watch the stock market reports on television. With his mathematical mind, Toby deciphers secret codes in the rising and falling commodities market and soon finds himself drawn into a web of financial intrigue. He is granted a place at the local high school for rich kids, where he unearths a scandal that threatens to bring down the name of the well-renowned school. The chocolate pudding escapades and Toby’s system for nicknaming his foster parents add some light relief along the way, and although the plot is a bit far-fetched, the story engages enough. The author makes a bold attempt at integrating some complex financial issues into the story, sometimes at the expense of his characters.
Unique children’s lit that cleverly tackles interest rates, endowments, fluctuating commodities, bullying and identity.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-1936214952
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Fiscal Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Exciting capers for the YA audience, hampered somewhat by undistinguished characters.
Two seventh-grade boys and their professor friend go on a dangerous journey to recover an ancient and powerful artifact in this young-adult adventure novel.
In the series’ previous installment, Professor Atlas and the Summoning Dagger (2011), friends Tyler Gerard and Brandon Giles won a trip to England with American explorer and professor Fielding Atlas to search for an enchanted dagger—a search that included time travel to the 14th century. This novel picks up where that story left off, with a new task: to travel to Japan to meet up with the wizard Mercastus. Along the way, the trio experiences a kidnapping, a train ride, a rescue and a big adventure in India, where they aim to recover the stolen Jewel of Enlightenment from the Palace of Vengeance. This volume doesn’t involve time travel, but there’s plenty of wizard fun, exotic locations, fight scenes and brilliant schemes, as well as a dangerous sect and a mischievous monkey. As the novel acknowledges, the Palace of Vengeance is quite similar to the first book’s medieval Hallswich Castle, although this time the team must account for modern-day security. Maguire (Kid in Chief, 2012) writes this fast-moving tale in a lively tone: A villain wears “an expression of disappointment that made him look like an enormous baby who had been told he couldn’t have a balloon,” and a venomous water snake’s “bluish-black, scaly skin accented by white rings gave it an aura of sleek deadliness.” Sometimes the magic can be a little too convenient or easy, as when the Jewel of Enlightenment gives an ancient Mesopotamian the ability to predict a solar eclipse through “his newly found intelligence.” Also, apart from eyeglasses, the two boys are almost identical, with similar speech patterns, abilities and personalities, and even the titular professor Atlas may be hard for readers to picture.
Exciting capers for the YA audience, hampered somewhat by undistinguished characters.Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-1457517136
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A Western adventure with just enough danger to appeal to kids.
Dead cattle abound in Carroll’s debut middle-grade novel about a young boy’s struggles to adapt to ranch life.
When Francis Steinway arrives at his grandfather’s ranch, the citified youth balks at the idea of spending the next year there with his mom while his father serves in the military. Before departing, Francis’ dad told him it was time for him to be the man of the house, but the concept overwhelms young Francis. When the boy overhears his grandfather question Francis’s ability to adjust to the ranch, saying that he needs to toughen up and change his name to Frank in order to survive, Francis feels that no one believes in him, not even himself. But when he learns that the ranch’s cattle are mysteriously dying, threatening the survival of the ranch, the city kid resolves to impress his father and grandfather and solve the mystery. Francis’s attempts to investigate the dying cattle are fraught with danger, and each clue he uncovers is met with distrust from his skeptical grandfather. Francis’ struggle to prove himself is endearing; he never gives up or deviates from being a good kid—a positive message for boys. Invoking many details of ranch life, Carroll makes the Western setting come alive. The challenges Francis faces—learning how to ride and making friends at school—are realistic and sometimes agonizing, but his determination and positive attitude may inspire young readers. Carroll skillfully paints a well-rounded picture of the small Western town. The writing style is simple and accessible for developing readers. The ease with which Francis (aka Frank) solves the crime is fairly linear and almost too convenient, but this won’t spoil the fun of middle-grade readers.
A Western adventure with just enough danger to appeal to kids.Pub Date: July 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-1477135532
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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