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DISAPPEARANCE AT HANGMAN'S BLUFF

Name: DISAPPEARANCE AT HANGMAN'S BLUFF
Author: J.E. Thompson
ISBN: 978-0-06-210449-6

From the Felony Bay Mysteries series , Vol. 2

by J.E. Thompson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2, 2014

Nail-biting suspense, distinctive yet realistic characters and an abundance of local color will win this one lots of fans.

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Intrepid sleuths and best friends Abbey Force, descendent of the former owners of Reward Plantation, and Bee Force, descendent of slaves on that same plantation, set out to solve another mystery in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

When Abbey and Bee witness the kidnapping of Judge Gator’s beloved dog, they are determined to find and rescue him. Snooping around in search of the missing canine, they discover that something much bigger than dognapping is going on on Leadenwah Island. Despite repeated warnings from their guardians, the girls continue their investigations, making enemies of some very unsavory characters, discovering a dead body in a truck and finding themselves in mortal danger on multiple occasions. Bee’s grandmother has become involved in identifying and preserving slave graveyards on the island, a passion that becomes an important plot point in Abbey and Bee’s perilous adventures while simultaneously adding a bit of a philosophical air to this otherwise plot-driven page-turner. Grandma Em’s interest spurs the girls to research their family histories together for a school report, an effort that enables them to acknowledge the difficult past they share while expressing gratitude for their friendship and their futures.

Nail-biting suspense, distinctive yet realistic characters and an abundance of local color will win this one lots of fans. (Mystery. 9-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-06-210449-6

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: June 9, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

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An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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NUMBER THE STARS

by Lois Lowry ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1989

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit...

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The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.

Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)