A scary tale hobbled by a disingenuous family history.
Minnesota siblings Mel, Will, and Ariel Griffin are excited to spend a week in England with their favorite aunt, Effie, at her home in the Griffinage, a cottage that is near a grand old manor.
Upon arrival, Meg feels a strange, itchy presence. Will, an adept pianist, hears a haunting tune from the church bells only to learn that it hasn’t been played on them in 50 years. And there are legends that the manor is haunted. In the cottage attic, 5-year-old Ariel encounters a ghost-child, Kay Kay. Ariel sees her as a friend, but Aunt Effie’s lovable Newfoundland dog feels the need to protect the child, as Kay Kay wishes to lure her into a well to her death in order to have a companion forever. This ghost story, though slow in some parts, has a quality of intrigue that could chill even readers older than the targeted middle-grade audience. The children are multiracial, a fact readers may feel has been introduced more as an accessory than anything else; they are described with curly hair and passing-light skin (but depicted on the cover with very brown skin), but their heritage is otherwise largely elided, cultural tension introduced and then dismissed almost before readers notice. The book otherwise hews to the white default.
A scary tale hobbled by a disingenuous family history. (Supernatural adventure. 10-12)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3088-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
A beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot.
In sixth grade, Izzy Mancini’s cozy, loving world falls apart.
She and her family have moved out of the cottage she grew up in. Her mother has spent the summer on Block Island instead of at home with Izzy. Her father has recently returned from military service in Afghanistan partially paralyzed and traumatized. The only people she can count on are Zelda and Piper, her best friends since kindergarten—that is, until the Haidary family moves into the upstairs apartment. At first, Izzy resents the new guests from Afghanistan even though she knows she should be grateful that Dr. Haidary saved her father’s life. But despite her initial resistance (which manifests at times as racism), as Izzy gets to know Sitara, the Haidarys’ daughter, she starts to question whether Zelda and Piper really are her friends for forever—and whether she has the courage to stand up for Sitara against the people she loves. Ferruolo weaves a rich setting, fully immersing readers in the largely white, coastal town of Seabury, Rhode Island. Disappointingly, the story resolves when Izzy convinces her classmates to accept Sitara by revealing the Haidarys’ past as American allies, a position that put them in so much danger that they had to leave home. The idea that Sitara should be embraced only because her family supported America, rather than simply because she is a human being, significantly undermines the purported message of tolerance for all.
A beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-30909-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like its predecessor, a satisfying, Incredibles-style mix of awesome exploits and common family issues.
Deprived of superpowers in the previous episode (Almost Super, 2014), can the Bailey and Johnson clans put aside their squabbles to tackle their common nemesis, the Joneses?
Determined to prove that they have the mettle to join their parents and relatives in fighting crime, 13-year-old Rafter Bailey, his little brother, Benny, and erstwhile rival Juanita Johnson (definitely the brains of the trio) kick off their own search for the Joneses’ secret hideout. Little do they suspect that those clever villains have planted a ringer in their very midst. Sabotage and other distractions ensue, until Juanita’s sudden disappearance sharpens not only the urgency of the search, but also Rafter’s guilt for being a poor friend. The kidnapping turns out to be a crucial mistake for the bad guys, however, as resourceful Juanita gets off a call for help that both brings the Baileys and Johnsons together for a collective rescue operation and, amid much breakage of glass and heroic feats of derring-do, foils the evil schemes of scenery-chewing archfiend October Jones. Rafter makes a likable narrator, emotionally open and determined to be both a good superhero and a good friend.
Like its predecessor, a satisfying, Incredibles-style mix of awesome exploits and common family issues. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-220958-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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