An enjoyable, well-crafted mystery with humor, mild suspense, a lively heroine, and a timely freedom-of-the-press theme.
A sixth-grade gossip learns what it takes to be a serious reporter when she joins the staff of the student newspaper as bizarre events escalate at school.
In this debut middle-grade novel, Molly Warner lives for gossip, sharing every juicy story she hears with anyone who will listen. When her remarkably understanding principal redirects her energy by having her join the student paper, Molly finds herself on the trail of a mystery involving the theft of the school’s only basketball trophy as well as car break-ins, an eruption of weird rashes, and a cherry bomb explosion in the girls’ bathroom. Among the possible culprits: Coach Cooper and two notorious school bullies. After Molly teams up with a fellow reporter to cover and solve the case, a surprise arrest ensues. And Molly discovers that her nose for news has led her to practice what “she was born to do.” Readers won’t discover much adolescent angst in Kilday’s benign middle school setting, but they will find well-placed humor and colorful characters that include Molly and her peers; janitor Frank and his unexpected musical ambitions; a girl whose phobia about germs in the school bathroom is tested in a most unfortunate way; a wise grandpa with a penchant for non sequiturs; and a reclusive ex-teacher who left the profession under a cloud. The author, a former reporter, adds substance to his buoyant novel with serious and timely information about the role of a free press in a democratic society. As Molly investigates the enigmatic happenings at school, she learns about journalistic ethics, interview techniques, and the difference between opinion and reporting. In well-paced segments, she hears about plagiarism, the significance of Watergate, the dangers of fake news—and of self-serving accusations of fake news—the need to fact-check stories spread on social media, and the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. “A free press that questions authority is what makes us a democracy,” asserts Molly’s journalism teacher. “It’s what separates our country from others who don’t have the freedoms that we enjoy.” Weighty stuff, yet Kilday skillfully weaves it all into his entertaining narrative as an organic part of the story.
An enjoyable, well-crafted mystery with humor, mild suspense, a lively heroine, and a timely freedom-of-the-press theme.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-78465-349-1
Page Count: 170
Publisher: Pegasus
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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