by DL Rosenblit ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 2021
A mystery with an engaging plot that will leave readers itching for further series installments.
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Rosenblit’s debut middle-grade series starter,set in the anthropomorphic-dog world of Collywood, begins with an art theft and ends with a team of young canines trying to stop an evil scientist.
Roddy Weiler is the young pup of Rod Weiler, a legendary Collywood police detective, and he’s destined to follow in his father’s pawprints—indeed, much sooner than he expected. His interest is piqued when his dad investigates the case of a stolen Salvador Collie painting. Roddy enlists his crew of four skilled comrades to assist. Initially, circumstances point to criminal Al K. Bone and the young detective digs up details of one of Bone’s recent major transactions. Using clever disguises, cutting-edge tech, and investigative research, the squad unearths a much more wicked plot, and Roddy quickly realizes that he and his pals may be in danger. Rosenblit’s tale offers sophisticated descriptions and is as energetic as the young pups at its center. The fictional world of Collywood is filled with puns, such as “the Dogfather” and “Brad Pit Bull,” adding human references to the somewhat unconventional canine subject matter. Rod and Roddy are well developed characters, and their relationship provides insight into their close father-son relationship. As the members of the team investigate different elements of the case, the text encourages young readers to pay attention in order to piece clues together in this well-paced tale. The use of dogs as characters may feel juvenile to some tweens, but they’ll likely enjoy the elevated vocabulary and intense final scenes.
A mystery with an engaging plot that will leave readers itching for further series installments.Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-80408-8
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Bowker
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Louis Sachar ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this...
Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar (Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.).
Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles.
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 978-0-374-33265-5
Page Count: 233
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
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by T.P. Jagger ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 4, 2022
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart.
A group of bright friends tackles the puzzle of their lives.
Elmwood, New Hampshire, 11-year-old Gina Sparks is small in stature but big on reporting ongoing dramas for the local newspaper with support from her journalist mom. When an unbelievable scoop comes her way, Gina must rely on her tightknit crew of sixth grade best friends whose initials happen to spell GEEK, a label they choose to proudly reclaim. She and science-minded prankster Elena Hernández, theater kid Edgar Feingarten, and driven math genius Kevin Robinson decide to get to the bottom of things when they learn that the Van Houten Toy & Game Company heir made elaborate plans to leave everything to the town of Elmwood before her death—but only if a member of the community could solve an intricate multistep puzzle. Gina hopes that deciphering the clues and finding the missing fortune will be just the thing to revitalize the down-on-its-luck town and bring the Elmwood Tribune back into the black, saving her mom’s job and Gina’s passion project. The GEEKs work together, using their individual talents and deductive reasoning skills to unravel the mystery. Infused with media literacy pointers, such as the difference between fact and opinion and reminders to avoid bias when reporting, the story encourages readers to think critically. Gina and Edgar read as White; Elena is cued as Latinx, and Kevin is implied Black.
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37793-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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