A wild and fantastical mystery adventure that has something for everyone.
In Martin’s middle-grade novel, tween sleuth Dotty Morgan’s latest supernatural case is her scariest yet.
Elderton, North Carolina may seem like any old small town, but it’s home to a brilliant supernatural sleuth named Dotty Morgan. The 12-year-old Black girl previously saved her town from the phantom of Waverly Perchance (The Case of the French Fry Phantom [2023]) and is now faced with an even bigger challenge. Sato Jin, the owner of a corporation who has recently purchased an outpost at Elderton’s Blue Devil Castle, has shown an interest in Dotty’s antique Japanese sword and cup, as well as in her detective business. Dotty has found that the objects have abnormal levels of ethereal energy and isn’t sure who to trust. Meanwhile, a new family from Japan has moved into town; mysterious daughter Sakura Suzuki stirs up feelings of rivalry and jealousy in Dotty’s girlfriend, Hannah, after the latter loses a duel in kickboxing class. Dotty has to juggle a litany of problems—from bullying to relationships to being attacked in the middle of the night by zombie ninjas—but she handles them all deftly and intelligently. With help from her school’s secretly powerful lunch ladies, Hannah’s brother (Finn), and her own friends, Dotty sets out to right an ancient wrong and discovers there is more to the cup-and-sword puzzle than meets the eye. Martin’s story may sound outlandish, but the action-adventure plot coheres well and keeps readers consistently engaged. The circumstances change by the second, and every decision has very serious implications. The frequent twists and surprise revelations repeatedly leave Dotty and her audience questioning who to trust in a nuanced way that forces readers to confront the complexity of each character’s motives. This ties in well with the very real consequences of the story’s ending, which Dotty addresses: “I figured no matter how intense things got, it would turn out okay. Now, I know that’s wrong.”
A wild and fantastical mystery adventure that has something for everyone.Pub Date: March 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781961215900
Page Count: 210
Publisher: In A Bind Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Contagiously goofy and fun.
Area 51 gets its first new resident in 5 years—and a new mystery.
When her grandma moves into a kid-free retirement home, 12-year-old orphan Priya “Sky” Patel-Baum and Spike, her pet hedgehog, relocate to Area 51 to live with Sky’s eccentric Uncle Anish. At 51, humans and Break Throughs (government-speak for aliens) live together off-grid in harmony. Unfortunately, several Zdstrammars (one of many Break Through species) mysteriously disappear, disrupting the base’s harmony and contributing to feelings of suspicion. Despite being deputy head of the Federal Bureau of Alien Investigations, Uncle Anish becomes a prime suspect. Can Sky and Elvis, her alien classmate, prove Uncle Anish’s innocence and find the missing Zdstrammars before it’s too late? YA author Buxbaum’s middle-grade debut is a rip-roaring series opener complete with over-the-top characters and jokes galore. Naidu’s black-and-white cartoon illustrations extend the comedy with ongoing commentary that smartly interacts with the prose. The cast of Break Through species—like Audiotooters, Galzorian, and Sanitizoria—have hilariously creative on-the-nose names with illustrations to match. Sky is coded biracial, with a White dad and Indian mom. Aliens appear in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors; Elvis shape-shifts but looks like a brown-skinned boy to Sky. Though the main mystery is neatly wrapped up, the cliffhanger ending promises more laughs.
Contagiously goofy and fun. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-42946-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans.
Only children, rejoice! A cozy mystery just for you! (People with siblings will probably enjoy it too.)
Debut novelist Cornett introduces the One and Onlys, a trio of mystery-solving only kids: Gloria Longshanks “Shanks” Hill, Alexander “Peephole” Calloway, and narrator Paul (alas, no nickname) Marconi. The trio has a knack for finding and solving low-level mysteries, but they come up against a true head-scratcher when the yard of a resident of their small town is covered in rubber ducks overnight. Working ahead of Officer Portnoy, who’s a little on the slow side, can Paul, Shanks, and Peephole solve the mystery? Cornett has a lot of fun with this adventure, dropping additional side mysteries, a subplot about small businesses, big corporations, and economics, and a town’s love of bratwurst into the mix. Most importantly, he plays fair with the clues throughout, allowing astute readers to potentially solve the case ahead of the trio. The tone and mystery are perfect for younger readers who want to test their detective skills but are put off by anything scary or gory. The pacing would serve well for chapter-by-chapter read-alouds. If there are any quibbles, it’s the lack of diversity of the cast, as it defaults white. Diversity exists in small towns, and this one is crying out for more. Hopefully a sequel will introduce additional faces.
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3003-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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