A humorous, entertaining story of an aspiring detective who finds her inner moxie.
In this YA novel, a young girl investigates suspicious doings in her neighborhood with the help of her best friend.
Twelve-year-old Maxwell Parker lives in Riverdale, California, with her artist mother. Seventh grade is about to begin, and Maxwell has had a boring summer with nothing to investigate; she longs to be like fictional teen detectives Nancy Drew or Veronica Mars. But then a new neighbor, the grandmotherly Mrs. Cook, raises the girl’s suspicions. Maxwell builds a case file on her, collecting snippets such as “Fact #2: Mrs. Cook has a coffee table that is large enough to hold a corpse.” But Maxwell has another problem—starting junior high and finding new friends. As she tells her best friend, Kenneth Newman, she feels like the “Little Mermaid” from the original fairy tale: “I look pretty much like other kids, but there’s something essentially different about me….I know that to fit in, I’d probably have to sell my soul.” Nevertheless, she tries to fit in anyway, “helping” a popular girl with her math homework while actually just giving her the answers. Still, Maxwell continues her private-eye activities, especially after reports that members of a credit card ring called the Backstreet Bandits are operating in Riverdale. As the tween investigates, with some surprising results, she also finds new courage and cements her friendship with Kenneth. Lynn (Letters from the Land of La, 2016, etc.) offers an appealing heroine in Maxwell, who blends individuality and intelligence with the usual insecurities of a junior high school kid. The character’s struggles to figure out just how grown-up to be, and especially how to navigate the social land mines of seventh grade without losing her identity, are well-told and relatable. In some other books for young readers, tween girls are obsessed with clothes and looks; not Maxwell, who marches to her own drummer—even if she’s sometimes uneasy about it. Kenneth, meanwhile, is depicted as a low-key but levelheaded and supportive friend to Maxwell who could, one day, be more. The series continues in the next installment, Maxwell Parker, Love Doctor (2016).
A humorous, entertaining story of an aspiring detective who finds her inner moxie.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9904353-2-7
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Stepping Stones for Kids
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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