A cheerful and not-too-intense Halloween adventure.
Two kids acquire some dirty tricks, and the instruction manual to boot, in Alexander’s novel debut.
Ten-year-old Martin loves classic horror movies, Halloween, and his great-aunt Gabby, who’s a world traveler. Each year, she comes to visit—but they never know exactly when she’ll turn up. This time, she arrives the day before Halloween with an unusual and rare present: curly-toed shoes made from the skin of a now-extinct animal, the foovaloos. She also brings tales of the fabulous Black Market, a floating exhibition of all things strange and supernatural. Luckily for Martin, the Black Market just happens to be landing in his boring town (“If beige was a place, it would be Cranberry”). Martin and his best friend, Jess, manage to track it down, but only Martin is admitted. He barters his foovaloos shoes for a half Bag of Dirty Tricks, which he and Jess proceed to use for all kinds of hijinks: turning Martin’s dad bright red, causing tree branches to sprout from the ears of a grouchy neighbor, and eventually taking down the evil Substitute Librarian. Relying on an information-heavy first chapter and some convenient coincidences, this adventure is well suited for readers who want something lightly creepy but not too scary. A confusing plot point involving French braids may leave readers scratching their heads. The black-and-white illustrations add to the atmosphere. Martin reads white, and Jess is cued Korean American.
A cheerful and not-too-intense Halloween adventure. (Supernatural. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781454955399
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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