Identity development and identity theft are the pivots of this summer-fare whodunit. Thirteen-year-old Minerva Clark is pretty typical; she loves her oddball older brothers, puzzles and her pet ferret. She hates her hair, her legs and the way her friends seem to have become mean-girl-junior-high-school-goddesses overnight. She hates that she’s already 5’8”, that mom’s left the family to teach yoga in New Mexico and that she can’t seem to stand up for herself—until, that is, she is accidentally electrocuted by her very own big brother. With one well-placed electrode and a single clap of thunder, Minerva’s mind is purged of self-hatred and self-consciousness, allowing her to become a sort of cross between Nancy Drew and Adrian Monk, investigating a complex web of check fraud, theft and murder involving her previously-thought-perfect glamour-girl cousin, Jordan (“On the days I didn’t want to be her, I hated her.”) (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-58234-677-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Left alone for a month, with an uncle he barely knows, Martin Hunter learns that not all is what it seems in this fast-paced second-person narrative. As an only child of disinterested, workaholic parents, Martin is used to being left alone, but this new development has him wishing for a more stable home life. Able to make the cut academically in school, even to excel, Martin is a social outcast. Slightly overweight and under tall, he is clumsy at sports and his status as nerd makes friends an unlikely possibility. When Uncle Lawrence moves in, Martin begins to suspect that his uncle’s interest in photography and astronomy might be a cover-up for something else. With the help of a voice-activated tape recorder and some old-fashioned snooping, Martin soon discovers that his uncle is a burglar and has been for many years. Caught between desiring the interest and approval of his nefarious uncle and the stable, if cold, home life that his parents provide, Martin is forced to take a hard look at morality and love. An amazing sacrifice by his uncle makes Martin an instant celebrity at school and forces his parents to make some important changes at home. Short chapters and a casual narrative style keep this mystery moving along, while a depth of character and the use of a second-person voice make this stand out from other selections. Richly layered and exciting. (Fiction 10-13)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-399-23135-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
Priestly pours generous measures of Dickens and Doyle (Sir Arthur Conan, that is) into this melodramatic murder mystery, set amid the vividly rendered stews of 18th-century London. A shadowy killer stalks the city’s rooftops, each of his arrow-shot victims found with an ominous calling card. Young printer’s son Tom Marlowe becomes involved in the hunt after a lowlife friend, Will, is found strangled; enlisting the aid of canny, well-traveled Dr. Josiah Harker and other adult allies, he is led to crime scenes, taught to sift for clues, and survives several narrow squeaks. The killer turns out to be a tattooed, English-speaking Mohawk with an astonishing head for heights and an otherwise peaceable nature who is exacting vengeance on a gang of thieves responsible for the massacre of his village. Despite the Noble Savage bit, and the fact that Tom’s role in the tale is largely a passive one as his associates do most of the fighting and deduction, fans of Pullman’s Victorian tales may enjoy the similar level of violence and almost tangibly miasmic setting. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: May 13, 2003
ISBN: 0-375-82466-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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