Explores lost family histories and expat life, with a taste of Singaporean myth and folk tradition.
Newly arrived in Singapore from Denmark, a girl meets a hungry ghost who may be connected to her own family.
Twelve-year-old Freja’s mother hasn’t been well, so Freja moves in for a year with her father and stepmother in Singapore. Freja isn’t certain she wants to be a part of her father’s new family, complete with twin toddler brothers. Then she meets a strange girl wearing white who keeps disappearing into the nearby Chinese cemetery. Could the girl be a ghost? And if so, why is she attracted to Freja’s family? As Freja is drawn into a supernatural world of Singaporean ghosts and spirits, she uncovers deeply buried secrets in a narrative that explores family, trauma, and memory. Freja’s father is English, her mother is Danish, and her stepmother is English and Hong Kong Chinese. The friends she makes in school are also mostly mixed-race and third culture kids, with the exception of a Singaporean Chinese girl and a boy of Chinese and German ancestry, raised by his Singaporean grandmother, who serve as Chinese cultural informants for Freja. Freja’s struggles adjusting to her family’s changing dynamics and coping with her mother’s mental illness and her own past traumas are compelling. The ghost’s past, rooted in Singapore’s history, however, is not dealt with in as much depth, with some past and present power differentials left underexamined.
Explores lost family histories and expat life, with a taste of Singaporean myth and folk tradition. (glossary) (Paranormal. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-78269-269-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Pushkin Children’s Books
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A candid and powerful reckoning of history.
Summer is off to a terrible start for 12-year old African-American Candice Miller.
Six months after her parents’ divorce, Candice and her mother leave Atlanta to spend the summer in Lambert, South Carolina, at her grandmother’s old house. When her grandmother Abigail passed two years ago, in 2015, Candice and her mother struggled to move on. Now, without any friends, a computer, cellphone, or her grandmother, Candice suffers immense loneliness and boredom. When she starts rummaging through the attic and stumbles upon a box of her grandmother’s belongings, she discovers an old letter that details a mysterious fortune buried in Lambert and that asks Abigail to find the treasure. After Candice befriends the shy, bookish African-American kid next door, 11-year-old Brandon Jones, the pair set off investigating the clues. Each new revelation uncovers a long history of racism and tension in the small town and how one family threatened the black/white status quo. Johnson’s latest novel holds racism firmly in the light. Candice and Brandon discover the joys and terrors of the reality of being African-American in the 1950s. Without sugarcoating facts or dousing it in post-racial varnish, the narrative lets the children absorb and reflect on their shared history. The town of Lambert brims with intrigue, keeping readers entranced until the very last page.
A candid and powerful reckoning of history. (Historical mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-545-94617-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
PROFILES
A page-turner with striking characters and a satisfying puzzle at its heart.
A boy who visits a little free library gets more than he bargained for when he becomes a sleuth caught up in the middle of his town’s most enduring mystery.
Ever since a tragic fire destroyed the Martinville Library, the town has been left without a place to borrow books. That is, until a little free library suddenly pops up, guarded by a fluffy orange cat named Mortimer. Fifth grader Evan McClelland selects two books from its shelves. Inside them he finds puzzling clues that lead him to chase down the real story behind the library fire. The book is told from multiple perspectives, including those of Evan, Mortimer, and ghost librarian Al, who perished in the blaze and is responsible for the upkeep of the little free library. Evan’s tenacious and curious character is relatable. His relationship with likable best friend Rafe, a brave, kind boy with overprotective parents, is easily one of the most endearing parts of the story. The puzzle over the library fire, a secret involving Evan’s family, a popular writer’s connection to Martinville, and the supernatural elements are presented in ways that are just right for middle-grade readers. The pacing is strong, and the twists and turns are satisfying even if perceptive readers may catch hints of the ultimate truth along the way. Physical descriptions of the human characters are largely absent.
A page-turner with striking characters and a satisfying puzzle at its heart. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781250838810
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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