Unless mermaids really float your boat, toss this one back out to sea.
A new student at Mermaid School is bullied.
Marnie’s levelheaded mother assures her Mermaid School’s lovely while Christabel, her vivacious celebrity aunt, recalls getting into loads of trouble—mostly earned, as she was a rule-averse prankster. In an often seen trope, Marnie’s first encounter with a fellow student is with bully Orla. The teachers, remembering the chaos Christabel left in her wake, aren’t inclined to give Marnie the benefit of the doubt when she falls victim to someone else’s prank—obviously Orla’s. But when Orla’s meanness is noticed by other students, who then shun her, Marnie sympathizes with her, learning the rather convoluted root of Orla’s hostility. Evidently Christabel promised to play Orla’s sister’s song on the radio but didn’t, depriving Orla’s sister of a showbiz career and forcing her to go and work in the dangerous Gulf of Mexico, where she’s gone missing after a hurricane. Following formula to a T, Orla runs off and gets in trouble, and Marnie follows after to save her, and then everyone becomes friends. From a character-development standpoint, Marnie’s goodness is undermined by her lack of personality. Marnie, her family, her best friend, and Orla are white; mermaids of color are present as second-tier characters. Readers who notice a throwaway line about Marnie’s absentee father’s career mining natural gas may hope for further exploration in sequels.
Unless mermaids really float your boat, toss this one back out to sea. (Fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4518-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair.
Fifth graders get into a hairy situation.
After an unnamed narrator’s full-page warning, readers dive right into a Wolver Hollow classroom. Mr. Noffler recounts the town legend about how, every Oct. 19, residents don fake mustaches and lock their doors. As the story goes, the late Bockius Beauregard was vaporized in an “unfortunate black powder incident,” but, somehow, his “magnificent mustache” survived to haunt the town. Once a year, the spectral ’stache searches for an exposed upper lip to rest upon. Is it real or superstition? Students Parker and Lucas—sole members of the Midnight Owl Detective Agency—decide to take the case and solve the mustache mystery. When they find that the book of legends they need for their research has been checked out from the library, they recruit the borrower: goth classmate Samantha von Oppelstein. Will the three of them be enough to take on the mustache and resolve its ghostly, unfinished business? Whether through ridiculous plot points or over-the-top descriptions, the comedy keeps coming in this first title in McGee’s new Night Frights series. A generous font and spacing make this quick-paced, 13-chapter story appealing to newly confident readers. Skaffa’s grayscale cartoon spot (and occasional full-page) illustrations help set the tone and accentuate the action. Though neither race or skin color is described in the text, images show Lucas and Samantha as light-skinned and Parker as dark-skinned.
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair. (maps) (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8089-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An effort as insubstantial as any spirit.
Eleven-year-old Maria Russo helps her charlatan mother hoodwink customers, but Maria has a spirited secret.
Maria’s mother, the psychic Madame Destine, cons widows out of their valuables with the assistance of their apartment building’s super, Mr. Fox. Madame Destine home-schools Maria, and because Destine is afraid of unwanted attention, she forbids Maria from talking to others. Maria is allowed to go to the library, where new librarian Ms. Madigan takes an interest in Maria that may cause her trouble. Meanwhile, Sebastian, Maria’s new upstairs neighbor, would like to be friends. All this interaction makes it hard for Maria to keep her secret: that she is visited by Edward, a spirit who tells her the actual secrets of Madame Destine’s clients via spirit writing. When Edward urges Maria to help Mrs. Fisher, Madame Destine’s most recent mark, Maria must overcome her shyness and her fear of her mother—helping Mrs. Fisher may be the key to the mysterious past Maria uncovers and a brighter future. Alas, picture-book–creator Ford’s middle-grade debut is a muddled, melodramatic mystery with something of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink feel: In addition to the premise, there’s a tragically dead father, a mysterious family tree, and the Beat poets. Sluggish pacing; stilted, unrealistic dialogue; cartoonishly stock characters; and unattractive, flat illustrations make this one to miss. Maria and Sebastian are both depicted with brown skin, hers lighter than his; the other principals appear to be white.
An effort as insubstantial as any spirit. (author’s note) (Paranormal mystery. 7-10)Pub Date: July 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-20567-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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