Regarding—once again—the town of Geyser Springs, Mo.as a fine setting for pun-laden hijinks, the Klise sisters present a fourth set of developments in their ongoing tangle of criminal activities (both big time and small), local romances and ambitious student projects. All are presented in a mix of reproduced documents, letters and newspaper pages. As the central activity involves efforts to renovate the filthy restrooms beneath the Middle School before an upcoming Society of Principals and Administrators conference, no opportunity for alimentary double-entendres is left unplumbed. They go from frantic Principal Walt Russ’s loo-sing battle with galloping constipation (despite consultations with bowel specialist Gladys Ownleepoup, M.D.) to soothing letters from the “Bath Room” of omni-competent fixer-upper Florence Waters, currently vacationing in England (guess where). By the end, the town has both a new spa and a newly active volcano to draw tourists, the children (along with readers) have been exposed to some geology, world history and even Latin, and everyone, except for a quartet of would-be fraudsters and thieves, is marching off to the next episode flushed with triumph. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-15-205164-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2006
Categories: CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A modern Sherlock Holmes retelling brings an 11-year-old black John Watson into the sphere of know-it-all 9-year-old white detective Shelby Holmes.
John's an Army brat who's lived in four states already. Now, with his parents' divorce still fresh, the boy who's lived only on military bases must explore the wilds of Harlem. His new life in 221A Baker St. begins inauspiciously, as before he's even finished moving in, his frizzy-haired neighbor blows something up: "BOOM!" But John's great at making friends, and Shelby certainly seems like an interesting kid to know. Oddly loquacious, brusque, and extremely observant, Shelby's locally famous for solving mysteries. John’s swept up in her detecting when a wealthy, brown-skinned classmate enlists their help in the mysterious disappearance of her beloved show dog, Daisy. Whatever could have happened to the prizewinning Cavalier King Charles spaniel? Has she been swiped by a jealous competitor? Has Daisy’s trainer—mysteriously come into enough money to take a secret weekend in Cozumel—been placing bets against his own dog? Brisk pacing, likable characters, a few silly Holmes jokes ("I'm Petunia Cumberbatch," says Shelby while undercover), and a diverse neighborhood, carefully and realistically described by John, are ingredients for success.
A smart, fresh take on an old favorite makes for a terrific series kickoff . (Mystery. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68119-051-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An American schoolgirl in a British boarding school battles a secret society in this adventure.
In this trope-y sequel to The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (2019), the students at Wellsworth must stay safe from the evil order that’s been there for generations and still entangles their parents. Emmy, a white, well-to-do Connecticut 12-year-old, is determined to return to Wellsworth even though last year she was nearly killed. The Order of Black Hollow Lane, the mysterious bad guys who are disguised as the school’s Latin Society, want something from Emmy. Her long-lost father, for one, and Emmy’s box of medallions, for another. Why? Do they really need a reason aside from being an evil club full of wickedness determined to find a whole box of MacGuffins that will somehow make them even richer and more powerful or at least propel the plot? In any case the dastardly fiends plague Emmy, framing one of her best friends for theft and leaving cryptic notes and computer files to threaten the lives of Emmy’s loved ones. Though the Order has infiltrated this (nearly all-white, wealthy) school for generations, Emmy must somehow defeat them and save her dad. The quest is peppered with spy-thriller moments that are mostly only thinly sketched and go nowhere, though some (such as a disguise right out of Scooby Doo cartoons) are funny enough to keep the action moving.
Flimsily entertaining . (Adventure. 9-11)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6467-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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