Exciting, tender, and absolutely wonderful.
Twelve-year-old Jake has great expectations for another wonderful summer on Dewees Island, a private island and nature sanctuary in South Carolina, in this follow-up to The Islanders (2021).
Jake wants to reunite with his friends Lovie and Macon and have a new adventure. Most of all he hopes his ex-Army father will be able to heal from his injuries; Dad has become emotionally withdrawn and refuses help. Jake’s friends, grandmother Honey, and Fire Chief Rand, his father’s childhood friend, are all waiting to greet them with hugs. During a quick visit to Honey’s newly modernized nature center, the kids spot a newspaper article that supplies their next adventure: hunting for Blackbeard’s treasure. A metal detector, research help from Honey, and memories from Rand and Dad set them on their way. There are adventures galore, encounters with a mysterious local treasure hunter, and lots of laughter (and some tears) in the changing relationship dynamics between Jake, his dad, and his friends. Two boys, cousins from the city with bad attitudes whose actions cause danger to protected animals, are an ongoing menace. The authors keep the action moving at a rapid pace, filling the pages with vivid sensory descriptions while masterfully interweaving historical facts, wildlife information, and gentle lessons. Jake’s first-person narration allows for self-knowledge and self-doubt while demonstrating capability for insight and compassion. Scattered black-and-white sketches illuminate the activities. Most characters present White; Macon is Black.
Exciting, tender, and absolutely wonderful. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 14, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-2730-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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
Delightfully weird and whimsical.
A 13-year-old girl and a colony of bats overcome losses in this middle-grade debut from Ready Player One author Cline.
After Opal B. Flats’ mother dies, she goes to live with Uncle Roscoe on the family farm in the Texas Hill Country. Her first night there, she has an alien encounter and subsequently discovers that she can communicate with the Mexican free-tailed bats living in a nearby cave. Their connection becomes essential when Opal, Uncle Roscoe, and the bats, through differing circumstances, are forced to find new homes. Opal and Uncle Roscoe, who read white, convince the bats to accompany them to Austin, “the only place in this whole stone-hearted state where weirdos are welcome!” If Opal and Uncle Roscoe have a slow start with fitting in, it’s even more difficult for a colony of over a million bats, especially when prejudice against them is being systematically reinforced by a greedy councilman whose pesticide business suffers when the bats start eating insects. The third-person narration unfolds in a homey style that’s colored with references to music and famous names that contribute to the sense of place, including Ann Richards, Selena, and Willie Nelson. Entries from Opal’s scrapbook are interspersed throughout. Readers will be relieved that, despite the hardships Opal and the bats must overcome, they ultimately prevail, succeeding in making friends and new homes for themselves in this celebratory primer on bats and belonging. Westell’s delicate, atmospheric illustrations greatly enhance the text.
Delightfully weird and whimsical. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780316460583
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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