Mystery and humor mix with lessons on friendship and self-awareness.
Can a sixth grader who’s determined to be great at something—anything, really—solve a murder?
Redheaded Grady, a middle child whose mom is a nurse and whose father is deceased, approaches every opportunity with enthusiasm, conviction—and zero skills. When a chauffeur-driven woman delivers a note from local millionaire J.T. Bancroft asking Grady to solve his murder, Grady is ecstatic. Everyone else is just confused. But when Bancroft is duly murdered, Grady plunges into the investigation with unbridled verve. Initially oblivious to or dismissive of help offered by friends and family, Grady also discounts everyone’s doubts and breaks promises to his mother. But if he really wants to solve the murder, he must first scrutinize his own attitudes and behavior and learn how to be a true friend. This complex, twisty mystery, a debut by screenwriter Dye, unfolds at a good pace and features wry humor that invites readers to see truths Grady misses. Though Grady’s investigative style is slapdash at best, his ideas do lead to some valuable clues as he ricochets among plot developments and interactions with other characters. Unfortunately, the self-centeredness and self-aggrandizement that alienate his few friends may likewise irritate readers. Those who stick with him will applaud Grady’s learning to be introspective and coming to terms with what drives his need to achieve. Grady’s family is cued white, and there’s ethnic diversity among the secondary characters.
Mystery and humor mix with lessons on friendship and self-awareness. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665967075
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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