A fun and ambitious first entry in a fantasy series about tween investigators.
A quirky vampire detective springs into action when chaos ensues at the Royal Vampire Wedding in Bowman’s supernatural middle-grade mystery.
Twelve-year-old Ellie Spark is half human, half vampire and an aspiring detective; she got the nickname Scaredy Bat because she sometimes turns into a bat when she’s frightened. She’s thrilled when she learns that she’ll be able to attend the Royal Vampire Wedding that’s taking place at her middle school—the first place that allowed both human and vampire students. Human-vampire relations are tricky, and this is a momentous occasion; if the nuptials don’t go as planned, a new prince will ascend to the throne and curtail a number of vampire civil rights. After a mysterious force freezes nearly everyone at the wedding, it’s up to Ellie; her fanged best friend, Jessica; and their new human pal, Fez, to find the cause and rescue vampire-human relations before it’s too late. In doing so, Ellie must battle her arachnophobia. The story is straightforwardly written and cleanly paced, introducing new characters intermittently, injecting doses of humor, and providing Ellie with a simple but effective narrative arc. The discussion of marriage and citizenship rights for vampires is surprisingly timely and operates subtly in the background. The text is supplemented by Lisovaya’s full-color illustrations, which lack depth and finesse but contribute charm all the same; in them, Ellie, Jessica, and Fez are portrayed as White, and Tink, a major supporting character introduced in the novel’s second half, is depicted as Black. This book would do well on bookshelves alongside early chapter book series like David A. Adler’s Cam Jansen (1980)and Jack Chabert’s Eerie Elementary (2014).An appendix includes suspect-list worksheets, trivia, and discussion questions as well as facts about spiders.
A fun and ambitious first entry in a fantasy series about tween investigators.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-950341-31-3
Page Count: 115
Publisher: Code Pineapple
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans.
Only children, rejoice! A cozy mystery just for you! (People with siblings will probably enjoy it too.)
Debut novelist Cornett introduces the One and Onlys, a trio of mystery-solving only kids: Gloria Longshanks “Shanks” Hill, Alexander “Peephole” Calloway, and narrator Paul (alas, no nickname) Marconi. The trio has a knack for finding and solving low-level mysteries, but they come up against a true head-scratcher when the yard of a resident of their small town is covered in rubber ducks overnight. Working ahead of Officer Portnoy, who’s a little on the slow side, can Paul, Shanks, and Peephole solve the mystery? Cornett has a lot of fun with this adventure, dropping additional side mysteries, a subplot about small businesses, big corporations, and economics, and a town’s love of bratwurst into the mix. Most importantly, he plays fair with the clues throughout, allowing astute readers to potentially solve the case ahead of the trio. The tone and mystery are perfect for younger readers who want to test their detective skills but are put off by anything scary or gory. The pacing would serve well for chapter-by-chapter read-alouds. If there are any quibbles, it’s the lack of diversity of the cast, as it defaults white. Diversity exists in small towns, and this one is crying out for more. Hopefully a sequel will introduce additional faces.
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3003-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Supernatural mystery meets generational drama with hopeful endings for all.
Eleven-year-old Frank must solve a supernatural mystery to save his new home.
As fifth grade comes to an end, Frank Fernández is looking forward to finally staying put in Alabama for a second year, as promised, after a childhood spent following his parents’ home renovation work all across the country. Frequent relocation has made Frank wary of forming friendships or making plans, but his hopes for more stability are temporarily dashed when his parents announce plans to renovate a lighthouse in the Florida Keys, near where his mother grew up and his father’s home country of Cuba. Papi promises this will be their last move, though: The lighthouse will be theirs. But from their first day on Spectacle Key, things seem to go wrong: Tensions rise between his parents, and Frank’s hopes of a forever home are under threat from seemingly supernatural forces. In order to put down roots, Frank and new ghostly friend Connie, a White girl with freckles, must discover what secrets the island is hiding, uncovering Frank’s own family roots along the way. Frank is a fan of horror—he names his new Great Dane puppy Mary Shelley. But though there is some mild peril to be found, rather than a ghostly thriller, this is an appealing, lightly spooky family drama with valuable lessons for those who would hide from a difficult past instead of confronting and healing generational trauma.
Supernatural mystery meets generational drama with hopeful endings for all. (Supernatural. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-313481-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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