A strong second installment in a YA historical series that should please inquisitive and imaginative readers.
In the second volume of the action-packed Red Hand Adventures series (Rebels of the Kasbah, 2012), a trio of boys in early-20th-century Morocco team up with heroic rebel fighters to stop a bloodthirsty villain.
Teenage boys Tariq, Fez, and Aseem, as well as English tourist Margaret Owen, have been kidnapped to serve as slaves to the power-hungry Caid Ali Tamzali, but rebel leaders Malik and Sanaa storm the Caid’s casbah and free them. The Caid wants revenge, so he hires the most feared assassin in Morocco, the Black Mamba, to track the rebels down. He also hopes to build an alliance with France that will help him destroy the rebellion and become the next sultan. Tariq, Fez, and Aseem decide to spy on behalf of the rebels, but along the way, they encounter various obstacles. Back in England, Margaret finds it hard to readjust to the rigid rules of her country’s stuffy social hierarchy, particularly after witnessing horrible things during her brief time as a slave. Meanwhile, Margaret’s missing father lives a secret life as a Robin Hood–esque pirate alongside the good-hearted Capt. Basil, but both are unaware that there may be a traitor in their midst. It’s fortunate that O’Neill includes a character list at the start of the story; the already large cast keeps expanding, and it can be hard to keep track of who’s who. The author also doesn’t skimp on details, packing every page with vividly drawn scenes that take readers to a mysterious circus in the Australian Outback (“Two clowns juggled knives back and forth, and a really short little man practiced every manner of somersault”), an island inhabited by French anarchists who worship Napoleon, an uptight English girls’ school, and the dangerous, bustling streets of Tangier. Young readers will enjoy reading about exotic cultures that they may not have heard about in history class, although they will need strong stomachs to handle some of the graphic violence that liberally, albeit realistically, peppers the story.
A strong second installment in a YA historical series that should please inquisitive and imaginative readers.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0985196967
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Black Ship Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart.
A group of bright friends tackles the puzzle of their lives.
Elmwood, New Hampshire, 11-year-old Gina Sparks is small in stature but big on reporting ongoing dramas for the local newspaper with support from her journalist mom. When an unbelievable scoop comes her way, Gina must rely on her tightknit crew of sixth grade best friends whose initials happen to spell GEEK, a label they choose to proudly reclaim. She and science-minded prankster Elena Hernández, theater kid Edgar Feingarten, and driven math genius Kevin Robinson decide to get to the bottom of things when they learn that the Van Houten Toy & Game Company heir made elaborate plans to leave everything to the town of Elmwood before her death—but only if a member of the community could solve an intricate multistep puzzle. Gina hopes that deciphering the clues and finding the missing fortune will be just the thing to revitalize the down-on-its-luck town and bring the Elmwood Tribune back into the black, saving her mom’s job and Gina’s passion project. The GEEKs work together, using their individual talents and deductive reasoning skills to unravel the mystery. Infused with media literacy pointers, such as the difference between fact and opinion and reminders to avoid bias when reporting, the story encourages readers to think critically. Gina and Edgar read as White; Elena is cued as Latinx, and Kevin is implied Black.
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37793-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.
In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you’ve ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school–aged refugees—Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo—eventually intertwine for maximum impact.
Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: “See us….Hear us. Help us.” With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.
Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-88083-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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