A smart coming-of-age novel that expertly blends mystery with the magic and peril of growing up.
In Holly’s middle-grade novel, a young girl unravels a sprawling conspiracy after the death of her beloved grandfather, a former World War II codebreaker.
Twelve-year-old Marnie Price is grieving the loss of her beloved grandfather, “Papa,” when life gets even more complicated: Her cousins, Mel and Jo, move in with their grandmother after the abrupt disappearance of their mother, Marnie’s Aunt Sandy. As everyone attempts to cope with this new dynamic, Marnie receives some mail with no return address that turns out to contain a crossword puzzle. The girls—and Marnie’s older brother, Nick—have a mystery on their hands. They begin learning more about Papa’s life, including the fact that he was part of a secret World War II codebreaking operation called August Rain—alongside a man named Conrad Pearson, who’s just appeared in their lives in an unexpected way. As the clues pile up, including a notebook with a page suspiciously torn out and an index card containing a Macbeth quote that Mel finds in their grandfather’s old study, the kids realize that a dreadful plan has been put into motion—but are they too late to stop it? Holly has crafted a fast-paced mystery that never loses sight of Marnie’s emotional growth. Information about codebreaking is smoothly woven into the story, making for an unobtrusive yet fascinating learning opportunity. Naturalistic dialogue and a smooth narrative voice allow Marnie to shine as a particularly sensitive and intuitive tween: “I could see it written all over him—the way he stretched his hands behind his head and exhaled hard through his nose. He was trying to outrun something. Maybe it was his grief. Maybe it was fear. Maybe both.” The result is a middle-grade novel that deftly tackles a historical thriller plot while sensitively exploring themes of grief, adolescence, and the courage needed to do the right thing.
A smart coming-of-age novel that expertly blends mystery with the magic and peril of growing up.Pub Date: July 30, 2025
ISBN: 9798765264430
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Balboa Press
Review Posted Online: today
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Entrancing and uplifting.
A small dog, the elderly woman who owns him, and a homeless girl come together to create a tale of serendipity.
Piper, almost 12, her parents, and her younger brother are at the bottom of a long slide toward homelessness. Finally in a family shelter, Piper finds that her newfound safety gives her the opportunity to reach out to someone who needs help even more. Jewel, mentally ill, lives in the park with her dog, Baby. Unwilling to leave her pet, and forbidden to enter the shelter with him, she struggles with the winter weather. Ree, also homeless and with a large dog, helps when she can, but after Jewel gets sick and is hospitalized, Baby’s taken to the animal shelter, and Ree can’t manage the complex issues alone. It’s Piper, using her best investigative skills, who figures out Jewel’s backstory. Still, she needs all the help of the shelter Firefly Girls troop that she joins to achieve her accomplishment: to raise enough money to provide Jewel and Baby with a secure, hopeful future and, maybe, with their kindness, to inspire a happier story for Ree. Told in the authentic alternating voices of loving child and loyal dog, this tale could easily slump into a syrupy melodrama, but Pyron lets her well-drawn characters earn their believable happy ending, step by challenging step, by reaching out and working together. Piper, her family, and Jewel present white; Pyron uses hair and naming convention, respectively, to cue Ree as black and Piper’s friend Gabriela as Latinx.
Entrancing and uplifting. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-283922-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
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