A delightfully spooky page-turner for middle-grade readers.
Award-winning travel writer Roberts spins an engrossing tale of magic, mystery, and friendship in his debut middle-grade novel.
In the quaint Massachusetts town of Willow Cove, 13-year-old Abby Shepherd and her best friend, Robby O’Reilly, discover that she’s a witch when Amethyst Jones, another young witch, reveals the news. A mysterious and powerful magic user named Miss Winters has arrived in town, embroiling the unsuspecting teens in a web of intrigue that stretches all the way back to the Salem witch trials. As Abby meets other young witches and learns how to harness her magic under the tutelage of Miss Winters, Robby is thrust into a missing person case and starts a romance with the new girl at school. Abby and Robby, who used to be inseparable, find themselves increasingly at odds as secrets and resentments come between them. But what they don’t know is that the mysteries of Willow Cove go far deeper than they ever imagined and that no one is exactly what they seem. Roberts perfectly balances small-town drama, preteen hijinks, and paranormal thriller action in an engaging novel with a vibrant cast of characters. The strength of Abby and Robby’s platonic relationship is a key element of the story, and the witches of Abby’s coven are each dynamic and unique in their own ways. The setting of Willow Cove is also commendably well developed, offering plenty of quirkiness and local color. It convincingly feels like a living entity with a vast history—one that Abby and her friends only begin to uncover in this book; more revelations may follow in a planned sequel, The Curse of Willow Cove.
A delightfully spooky page-turner for middle-grade readers.Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-945654-49-7
Page Count: 310
Publisher: Owl Hollow Press
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PERSPECTIVES
Classic action-packed, monster-fighting fun
It’s been 42 days since the Monster Apocalypse began, and 13-year-old Jack Sullivan, a self-proclaimed “zombie-fighting, monster-slaying tornado of cool” is on a quest to find and rescue his not-so-secret crush, June Del Toro, whether she needs it, wants it, or not.
Jack cobbles together an unlikely but endearing crew, including his scientist best friend, Quint Baker; Dirk Savage, Parker Middle School’s biggest bully; and a pet monster named Rover, to help him save the damsel in distress and complete the “ULTIMATE Feat of Apocalyptic Success.” Middle-grade readers, particularly boys, will find Jack’s pitch-perfect mix of humor, bravado, and self-professed geekiness impossible to resist. His sidekicks are equally entertaining, and it doesn’t hurt that there are also plenty of oozing, drooling, sharp-toothed monsters and zombies and a host of gizmos and gadgets to hook readers and keep them cheering with every turn of the page. Holgate’s illustrations play an integral role in the novel’s success. They not only bring Brallier’s characters to life, but also add depth and detail to the story, making plain just exactly how big Rover is and giving the lie to Jack’s “killer driving.” The marriage of text and illustration serves as a perfect example of what an illustrated novel can and should be.
Classic action-packed, monster-fighting fun (. (Graphic/horror hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-670-01661-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Funny delivery, but some jokes really miss the mark.
An animal ghost seeks closure after enduring aquatic atrocities.
In this sequel to The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter (2020), sixth grader Rex is determined to once again use his ability to communicate with dead animals for the greater good. A ghost narwhal’s visit gives Rex his next opportunity in the form of the clue “bad water.” Rex enlists Darvish—his Pakistani American human best friend—and Drumstick—his “faithful (dead) chicken”—to help crack the case. But the mystery is only one of Rex’s many roadblocks. For starters, Sami Mulpepper hugged him at a dance, and now she’s his “accidental girlfriend.” Even worse, Darvish develops one of what Rex calls “Game Preoccupation Disorders” over role-playing game Monsters & Mayhem that may well threaten the pair’s friendship. Will Rex become “a Sherlock without a Watson,” or can the two make amends in time to solve the mystery? This second outing effectively carries the “ghost-mist” torch from its predecessor without feeling too much like a formulaic carbon copy. Spouting terms like plausible deniability and in flagrante delicto, Rex makes for a hilariously bombastic (if unlikable) first-person narrator. The over-the-top style is contagious, and black-and-white illustrations throughout add cartoony punchlines to various scenes. Unfortunately, scenes in which humor comes at the expense of those with less status are downright cringeworthy, as when Rex, who reads as White, riffs on the impossibility of his ever pronouncing Darvish’s surname or he plays dumb by staring into space and drooling.
Funny delivery, but some jokes really miss the mark. (Paranormal mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5523-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
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