Welcome to Franklin Middle School, where a junior gang of petty thieves and mobsters shakes kids down and humiliates them with water guns. Seventh-grader Matt Stevens, the class detective, is hired by fellow middle-schooler Vinny Biggs (something of a pint-sized Godfather) to recover a lost trinket from Nikki “Fingers,” one of the fastest shots in school. Nikki has decided to go straight because her younger sister has entered the school. This knock-off noir kicks in when Nikki, about to hand over the charm to Matt, is “taken out”—soaked in a place to make it look like she’s had an accident. This humiliation, a highly visible and common practice, immediately turns victims into social outcasts. Matt’s detective instincts tell him that Vinny may have set him up, and he sets out to learn who was really behind this act. Matt Stevens may turn out to be a bankable franchise: His first-person present-tense narration carries in it echoes of Marlowe, and the simple plot makes some crafty twists and turns as it goes along. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8109-7067-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
Vacationing penguins Gertie and Gus arrive at Holiday Island dressed in their best, only to find themselves at seedy OTEL, where the Bad Guys Club meets, rather than the elegant Hotel de View, which they’d booked. It’s not long before the “rascally rowdies, wretched wharf rats, riffraff, and ruffians,” including the wily weasel, the agile alligator, and other alliterative animals, rip off Gertie’s “beautiful, valuable deep sea pearl.” Enter the Law, spectacularly depicted as a mirror-sunglassed, motorcycle-riding, mean-looking warthog. Questioning ensues, during which readers can spot the miscreant in an array of arresting, clue-filled watercolors based on camera-happy Gus’s Polaroids: “See this picture of a cowboy boot with a bulge in it?” Gus asks, and the chase is on. Far be it from bad guys to pass up a ride in an officer’s sidecar, but Gertie wants speed and tosses them out. The “scummy scallywags” pursue the Law to the Hotel de View and help catch the thief, adding to a high-spirited denouement, in which deGroat (One Small Dog, p. 1118, etc.) illustrates her ability to lampoon snobs as well as lowlifes, a satisfying conclusion to an adventure that shows there’s no place like home. Here is high action, deft characterization to the depth needed, lots of brightly colored pictures, and built-in interactivity in a first chapter book for young mystery fans. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-58717-022-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
The flibbertigibbet, middle-child star of three picture books jumps to a more extended format without losing her exuberance, short attention span, or stream-of-consciousness style of narration. So wrapped up is Clarice in gobbling down mysteries featuring a Nancy Drew-like sleuth, that she can’t think of any other books to use in a class project that’s supposed to highlight reading’s educational benefits. Then, not only does her partner and best friend Betty Moody disappear on a sudden family trip, leaving her saddled with class troublemaker Karl Wrenbury, but the trophy cup that was earmarked for the winning project disappears. Despite a lack of evidence, humorless teacher Mrs. Wilbarton blames Karl, thus leaving Clarice partnerless again. Meanwhile, there are mysteries on the domestic front. Using extra punctuation and changes in type and line shape for emphasis, Child not only gives Clarice a distinctive preteen voice, but captures the chaos around her with plenty of sketchy, interspersed ink drawings and collages. Not that it wins the trophy, but this middle-class Eloise turns out to be a good loser, and she will certainly win over plenty of readers. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7636-2186-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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