A bubbly, surprising caper that will undoubtedly entertain young readers.
Niebruegge’s (The Zonderling, 2015, etc.) children’s novel tells a tale of buried treasure, forbidden history, and youthful mischief.
Becky Dulles has just received the worst news of her life: Franklin D. Roosevelt Elementary School is going to close due to budget cuts, which means she’ll be transferred to a totally new school! Even worse, she and her friends, known as the Sherlock Pines Gang, will almost certainly be separated as a result. And there’s another problem that needs immediate attention: It turns out that everyone’s permanent records will be handed over to the new schools, making it impossible for the Gang to hide anything they’ve done in the past that’s “kinda, sorta, maybe naughty.” They hatch a plan steal their permanent records, but avoiding the watchful eye of their principal, Mrs. Parish, is no easy feat. As the friends work together to pilfer the documents, they unexpectedly stumble upon a treasure map that holds a dark secret about the school’s past. Could it be the real reason behind its closure? The Gang set out on a new mission to find the treasure and uncover the controversial mystery. The prose style has a youthful tone throughout, as the author captures the often vivid imaginations of adolescents: “we completed the next step of the mission—memorizing a bunch of top secret code names to use during Operation Parish Stinks.” Becky and her friends are instantly lovable, and it’s hard not to laugh out loud at their antics, as the dialogue is chock-full of witty jokes and sarcasm: “A riot nearly broke out last year when everyone discovered that most of the pizzas were covered in vegetables. Vegetables!” As the plot zips along, the story occasionally pauses to reflect on historical events, lending the lively, spirited narrative a refreshing bit of grown-up flair.
A bubbly, surprising caper that will undoubtedly entertain young readers.Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9908710-9-5
Page Count: 171
Publisher: Time Tunnel Media
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2018
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
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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