A delectable concoction that contains a dash of Sherlock Holmes and a sprinkling of the supernatural.
A girl’s madcap, bakery-themed adventures continue in this second series entry.
Having found a father and a home in the bake shop in Belle-on-Sea, Bridget, along with best friend Tom and Pascal the bakery elf, must contend with news of a frightful ghost train that’s threatening their charming village. Though she’s no longer an orphan, Bridget hasn’t lost her confident attitude, inventing skills, or distinctive orange hair. Reunited with Tom, whose fondness for sweets is only slightly hampered by his adoptive parents being dentists, Bridget is determined to root out the truth behind rumors of a ghost train, working with Tom and Pascal to allow Belle-on-Sea’s traditional Parade of the Hungry Ghosts to continue without incident. Bridget’s baking skills haven’t improved, but her “failures,” like Molten Baklava, continue to prove highly useful. Wordplay, creative inventions, ample footnotes, and boisterous illustrations continue the playful, energetic, and occasionally over-the-top vibe of Bridget’s first adventure. The scares are on the mild side, but amateur sleuths will enjoy watching Bridget on the case as she adheres to Mr. Vanderpuff’s motto: “Baking is best when it’s shared.” Tom, Mr. V, and Kingsley Dare, the town’s resident earl and a hide-and-seek champion, have brown skin; other characters are drawn as white.
A delectable concoction that contains a dash of Sherlock Holmes and a sprinkling of the supernatural. (map, tart recipe, riddle) (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780593754108
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Contagiously goofy and fun.
Area 51 gets its first new resident in 5 years—and a new mystery.
When her grandma moves into a kid-free retirement home, 12-year-old orphan Priya “Sky” Patel-Baum and Spike, her pet hedgehog, relocate to Area 51 to live with Sky’s eccentric Uncle Anish. At 51, humans and Break Throughs (government-speak for aliens) live together off-grid in harmony. Unfortunately, several Zdstrammars (one of many Break Through species) mysteriously disappear, disrupting the base’s harmony and contributing to feelings of suspicion. Despite being deputy head of the Federal Bureau of Alien Investigations, Uncle Anish becomes a prime suspect. Can Sky and Elvis, her alien classmate, prove Uncle Anish’s innocence and find the missing Zdstrammars before it’s too late? YA author Buxbaum’s middle-grade debut is a rip-roaring series opener complete with over-the-top characters and jokes galore. Naidu’s black-and-white cartoon illustrations extend the comedy with ongoing commentary that smartly interacts with the prose. The cast of Break Through species—like Audiotooters, Galzorian, and Sanitizoria—have hilariously creative on-the-nose names with illustrations to match. Sky is coded biracial, with a White dad and Indian mom. Aliens appear in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors; Elvis shape-shifts but looks like a brown-skinned boy to Sky. Though the main mystery is neatly wrapped up, the cliffhanger ending promises more laughs.
Contagiously goofy and fun. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-42946-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
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
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