Thrash’s brazen characters and dark humor will compel readers forward.
The second installment of Thrash’s (We Know It Was You, 2016) Strange Truth series finds teen sleuths Benny Flax and Virginia Leeds embroiled in a series of increasingly twisted and interrelated mysteries.
Benny Flax’s ambition in founding the Mystery Club at Atlanta’s prestigious Winship Academy is to solve mysteries with an aim to seeking the truth, though bringing the guilty parties to justice is not his concern. Virginia Leeds is happy to be his partner as an antidote to the boredom of life as a boarder at Winship, though Benny himself remains a mystery to her. Thrash has perfected the voices of her white protagonists, two oddball outsiders whose quirks come off as natural in the context of her self-assured, madcap storytelling. Their latest case materializes at the school’s science expo, when a mysterious drug dealer in the girl’s bathroom is upstaged by an apparent freak accident in which DeAndre Bell, the popular African-American student-body president, is gruesomely impaled by a set of deer antlers. This dark chain of events sets Benny and Virginia down a maze of different paths to discover what really happened. Fast-paced and suspenseful, the plotting of this outing is both more plausible and more complicated than the last. The novel concludes on several cliffhangers and loose ends, leaving readers with plenty to ponder.
Thrash’s brazen characters and dark humor will compel readers forward. (Mystery. 14-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6203-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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