Monstrous fun.
Jones invites readers to assume the role of sleuth and direct the investigation in the wake of the theft of a valuable museum artifact in this second entry in a British series.
A lively cast of mythical beings sets this stand-alone volume apart from the usual run of Choose Your Own Adventure–style capers. It seems that in Haventry, “a very ordinary town” populated by “vampires, werewolves, ghosts, goblins and various other strange creatures of the night,” the Time Sponge, which will temporarily halt time when squeezed, has vanished from MOPS, the local Museum of Magical Objects and Precious Stones. A plethora of suspects present themselves, ranging from banshee journalist Gretchen Barfly Sewer to yeti private eye Klaus Solstaag and a trio of wheelchair-using merfolk spouting scatological verse (“I knew a weak-bladdered mermaid / I think her name was Norma / And when you swam behind her / The water was much warmer”). As the possibly guilty yeti’s unnamed apprentice, it’s up to you, the human reader, to decide at significant points which fork in the plot’s road to take. Adding another clever twist, the looping plotlines lead to multiple denouements, allowing readers to flip back at will to earlier scenes and take paths to different futures, as the sponge’s owner, a mystical time-bending lobster named Bernard, explains at the end. Forshaw’s comical visuals highlight a diverse variety of humans and creatures.
Monstrous fun. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9798217143320
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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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