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HARVEY'S MYSTIFYING RACCOON MIX-UP

Name: HARVEY'S MYSTIFYING RACCOON MIX-UP
Author: Eth Clifford
ISBN: 0-395-68714-4

by Eth Clifford ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1994

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One night Harvey (Harvey's Marvelous Monkey Mystery, 1987, etc.) and his cousin Nora see a prowler with a shotgun hanging out in Harvey's yard. They watch, mystified, as the thin stranger in black lifts his gun and shoots at a branch outside Harvey's window. The branch falls into Harvey's room, and with it an adorable raccoon and a plate for printing counterfeit $20 bills. The next morning neighbors come by to find out what the shots were: Mrs. Motley, a nice if nosy woman from next door, and the nurse who recently moved into the area with an old woman she cares for. The raccoon runs out of the house with the plate. They catch him and bring him back. That night the prowler returns, this time with an accomplice. Harvey and Nora hear noises from the attic and go up to investigate. The two prowlers catch them, but Harvey and Nora escape and Harvey solves the mystery: The old woman and her nurse, who only leave their house at night, are actually Wally Warble and his accomplice, Kookie Smith, counterfeiters. Unfortunately, by the time the police come, Wally and Kookie are long gone. Another amusing little book from Clifford. (Fiction. 7- 10)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-395-68714-4

Page Count: 112

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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BOOKMARKS ARE PEOPLE TOO!

From the Here's Hank series , Vol. 1

by Henry Winkler ; Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Scott Garrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2014

An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.

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Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.

Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.

An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)

Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap

Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CASE OF THE STRANGE SPLASH
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Dan Santat

- BOOK REVIEW
HOLLYWOOD VS. THE GALAXY
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Ethan Nicolle

- BOOK REVIEW
LIGHTS, CAMERA, DANGER!
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver

CHARLIE BUMPERS VS. THE TEACHER OF THE YEAR

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CHARLIE BUMPERS VS. THE TEACHER OF THE YEAR

From the Charlie Bumpers series , Vol. 1

by Bill Harley ; illustrated by Adam Gustavson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2013

Readers will be waiting to see how Charlie faces his next challenge in a series that marks a lovely change of pace from the...

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Charlie Bumpers is doomed. The one teacher he never wanted in the whole school turns out to be his fourth-grade teacher.

Charlie recalls third grade, when he accidentally hit the scariest teacher in the whole school with his sneaker. “I know all about you, Charlie Bumpers,” she says menacingly on the first day of fourth grade. Now, in addition to all the hardships of starting school, he has gotten off on the wrong foot with her. Charlie’s dry and dramatic narrative voice clearly reveals the inner life of a 9-year-old—the glass is always half empty, especially in light of a series of well-intentioned events gone awry. It’s quite a litany: “Hitting Mrs. Burke in the head with the sneaker. The messy desk. The swinging on the door. The toilet paper. And now this—the shoe on the roof.” Harley has teamed once again with illustrator Gustavson (Lost and Found, 2012) to create a real-life world in which a likable kid must face the everyday terrors of childhood: enormous bullies, looming teachers and thick gym coaches with huge pointing fingers. Into this series opener, Harley magically weaves the simple lesson that people, even teachers, can surprise you.

Readers will be waiting to see how Charlie faces his next challenge in a series that marks a lovely change of pace from the sarcasm of Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 7-10)