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
BOOK REVIEW
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
Supernatural mystery meets generational drama with hopeful endings for all.
Eleven-year-old Frank must solve a supernatural mystery to save his new home.
As fifth grade comes to an end, Frank Fernández is looking forward to finally staying put in Alabama for a second year, as promised, after a childhood spent following his parents’ home renovation work all across the country. Frequent relocation has made Frank wary of forming friendships or making plans, but his hopes for more stability are temporarily dashed when his parents announce plans to renovate a lighthouse in the Florida Keys, near where his mother grew up and his father’s home country of Cuba. Papi promises this will be their last move, though: The lighthouse will be theirs. But from their first day on Spectacle Key, things seem to go wrong: Tensions rise between his parents, and Frank’s hopes of a forever home are under threat from seemingly supernatural forces. In order to put down roots, Frank and new ghostly friend Connie, a White girl with freckles, must discover what secrets the island is hiding, uncovering Frank’s own family roots along the way. Frank is a fan of horror—he names his new Great Dane puppy Mary Shelley. But though there is some mild peril to be found, rather than a ghostly thriller, this is an appealing, lightly spooky family drama with valuable lessons for those who would hide from a difficult past instead of confronting and healing generational trauma.
Supernatural mystery meets generational drama with hopeful endings for all. (Supernatural. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-313481-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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