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
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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