Pirates, mermaids, and more mystery in this satisfying return to Pumpkin Falls.
In this latest Pumpkin Falls Mystery, Truly Lovejoy reprises her role as a “middle school private eye.”
Anticipating a “perfect New Hampshire summer in Pumpkin Falls spent bird-watching, bike riding, swimming, working in her family’s bookstore, and hanging out with friends—especially crush Calhoun—Truly survives her family reunion and the town’s 4K race only to find herself unexpectedly exiled to Sirena’s Sea Siren Academy on Cape Cod. Here, she’s immersed in all things mermaid, learns to swim wearing a sparkly tail—and discovers a possible link between a real pirate and one of her Lovejoy ancestors. Returning to Pumpkin Falls, Truly alerts fellow sleuths in the Pumpkin Falls Private Eyes to the possibility of pirate treasure buried locally. Splitting time among investigating the pirate mystery, finding the town’s missing silver pumpkin trophy, and a summer production of The Pirates of Penzance, spunky Truly proves she’s up for just about anything. Her vulnerable, humorous first-person narration reveals minor family frustrations, her attraction to Calhoun, and her resolve when faced with a challenge. The pace drags during the opening family reunion sequence but accelerates at mermaid camp and culminates in an action-packed finale. Eccentric new and returning characters and the mermaid/pirate theme add spice to this family-oriented adventure. Truly and her family are white; diversity in Pumpkin Falls is mostly suggested via naming convention.
Pirates, mermaids, and more mystery in this satisfying return to Pumpkin Falls. (recipe, suggested reading) (Mystery. 10-14)Pub Date: June 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1437-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when...
Two sisters make an unauthorized expedition to their former hometown and in the process bring together the two parts of their divided family.
Dooley packs plenty of emotion into this eventful road trip, which takes place over the course of less than 24 hours. Twelve-year-old Ophelia, nicknamed Fella, and her 16-year-old sister, Zoey Grace, aka Zany, are the daughters of a lesbian couple, Shannon and Lacy, who could not legally marry. The two white girls squabble and share memories as they travel from West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, where Zany is determined to scatter Mama Lacy’s ashes in accordance with her wishes. The year is 2004, before the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and the girls have been separated by hostile, antediluvian custodial laws. Fella’s present-tense narration paints pictures not just of the difficulties they face on the trip (a snowstorm, car trouble, and an unlikely thief among them), but also of their lives before Mama Lacy’s illness and of the ways that things have changed since then. Breathless and engaging, Fella’s distinctive voice is convincingly childlike. The conversations she has with her sister, as well as her insights about their relationship, likewise ring true. While the girls face serious issues, amusing details and the caring adults in their lives keep the tone relatively light.
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when Fella’s family figures out how to come together in a new way . (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16504-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish.
The dreary prospect of spending a lifetime making caskets instead of wonderful inventions prompts a young orphan to snatch up his little sister and flee. Where? To the circus, of course.
Fortunately or otherwise, John and 6-year-old Page join up with Boz—sometime human cannonball for the seedy Wandering Wayfarers and a “vertically challenged” trickster with a fantastic gift for sowing chaos. Alas, the budding engineer barely has time to settle in to begin work on an experimental circus wagon powered by chicken poop and dubbed (with questionable forethought) the Autopsy. The hot pursuit of malign and indomitable Great-Aunt Beauregard, the Coggins’ only living relative, forces all three to leave the troupe for further flights and misadventures. Teele spins her adventure around a sturdy protagonist whose love for his little sister is matched only by his fierce desire for something better in life for them both and tucks in an outstanding supporting cast featuring several notably strong-minded, independent women (Page, whose glare “would kill spiders dead,” not least among them). Better yet, in Boz she has created a scene-stealing force of nature, a free spirit who’s never happier than when he’s stirring up mischief. A climactic clutch culminating in a magnificently destructive display of fireworks leaves the Coggin sibs well-positioned for bright futures. (Illustrations not seen.)
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish. (Adventure. 11-13)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234510-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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