A sweet story about a lucky dog that reveals itself to be a deeper story about a lucky human.
Can a girl, a dog, and a boy overcome the disadvantages of circumstance?
When Clair first hears the sad sounds of the dog chained in the yard next door at the Stewarts' house, she doesn't do anything. The neighbors are not friendly ones, and she's afraid of them. But the filth and neglect in that backyard are too much to ignore, so finally she makes friends with the big, wild, lonely dog called Wally. The neighbor's son, Danny, emerges as an accomplice, and the two of them start Wally's training, based on a book by famous dog trainer Father Jasper, becoming friends in the process. But when a tragedy befalls them, Clair questions their whole relationship and Wally's safety. Monninger offers a sweet look at a tough existence. His characters manage to stay true to their hardscrabble roots while inviting readers to join a world in which hope is a rare but welcome thing. Occasionally, the author wields too forceful a hand, especially when it comes to Clair's expression of emotional confusion in the form of physical sickness. In general, however, the characters manage to be realistic yet engaging in the face of turmoil.
A sweet story about a lucky dog that reveals itself to be a deeper story about a lucky human. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-53123-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
IN THE NEWS
Not a meal but an entertainingly tasty snack on the light side of the genre.
With well-earned cynicism, high school junior Jillian is trying to carry on Umbra Investigations, her absent father’s business and area of “expertise”: he’s a paranormal researcher, or, in Jillian’s words, a trafficker “in bullshit.”
She doesn’t believe a scrap of it, but she needs to pay the bills—particularly the electricity, as they have cut her power off. Though the book opens with a hokey and cynical interaction with a client, the stakes rise quickly with the arrival of gorgeous and flirty Sky Ramsey, who horns his way into her investigation into a missing person, possibly abducted by a succubus. Adventures, sometimes violent, and romance ensue. Jillian’s angry at her dad’s abandonment of her (to gather paranormal artifacts from around the world) after the death of her mother, and she hates the babble that has surrounded her most of her life. This combination of feisty and hurt provides Jillian with a somewhat stock appeal. The increasingly weird case tests her assumptions about more than the paranormal, taking readers straight into a world of unexplained phenomena and leading Jillian to understand both her history and herself a little bit better. Some revelations are telegraphed, while others sneak in. Klein builds her underworld with both logic and farce, paralleling Jillian’s own skepticism and quick wit.
Not a meal but an entertainingly tasty snack on the light side of the genre. (Paranormal romance. 12-15)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61695-434-5
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Soho Teen
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
These squabbling BFFs will continue to please their fans, though they are unlikely to win new ones
The intrepid detective/vampire-slayer team of Stoker and Holmes returns for a third diverting steampunk mystery (The Spiritglass Charade, 2014, etc.).
Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes have collaborated on solving mysteries before. Action-oriented Evaline is a hereditary slayer of UnDead while Mina is a condescending mistress of deduction, much like her famous uncle. Or, as Evaline says, "I'm not the one who finds out things….I'm the one who does things." The girls react with dismayed pride when asked to entertain visiting Princess Lurelia of Betrovia. It's good to be trusted, but neither young lady has any desire to go about in society. Evaline would rather wear trousers and slay vampires in the vilest parts of London. Mina loves to wear pretty clothes but lacks any desire to make polite conversation. Luckily, disaster strikes: a guard is murdered, a gift between nations is stolen, and the princess is threatened by a mysterious figure the girls suspect is Mina's nemesis, the Ankh. This gives Mina the opportunity to deduce cleverly in the presence of her swain, the equally clever Inspector Grayling, while Evaline slays vampires while flirting with Cockney criminal mastermind Pix. The mystery moves at a glacial pace, as does the romantic build, despite the setup. The reappearance of Olympia Babbage ("granddaughter of some famous inventor") is, sadly, a mere side note.
These squabbling BFFs will continue to please their fans, though they are unlikely to win new ones . (Steampunk. 12-14)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4317-0
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
