This dashing adventure is a satisfying addition to this lively series.
The dauntless Alice-Miranda returns in a sequel fraught with mystery (Alice-Miranda at School, 2011).
Having resolved the problems at her boarding school, Alice-Miranda is looking forward to her school holiday. However, with a penchant for seeking out mysteries, the plucky sleuth is soon surrounded by intrigue. With a cast of both familiar and new characters, Harvey moves the action to the bucolic estate of Alice-Miranda’s family. Accompanied by her school friend Jacinta, Alice-Miranda soon uncovers several puzzling scenarios: A famous movie star is staying with Alice-Miranda's family, an enigmatic driver of an unknown car secretly visits Granny Bert, Daisy the maid spends her days crying and a new bully is on the scene. The forthright Jacinta provides a nice foil for Alice-Miranda’s unwavering sweetness. A dash of corporate espionage involving a top-secret formula and a royal abduction make for thrilling adventures for the duo. Harvey provides ample clues for the clever Alice-Miranda—and perceptive readers—as she unravels the tangled plots surrounding her family and friends. With her trademark aplomb, Alice-Miranda successfully routs bumbling criminals without ever compromising her impeccable manners.
This dashing adventure is a satisfying addition to this lively series. (Mystery. 7-11)Pub Date: April 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-73995-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
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