Never mess with magic—it may come back to bite you.
For two English siblings, a stay with their magician grandfather turns into a challenging adventure to find their missing grandmother.
Eleven-year-old Hedy van Beer and her 8-year-old brother, Spencer, are taken to stay with their reclusive, eccentric Grandpa John while their archaeologist parents head to Spain on a dig. Hedy wants to go with them and dreads a boring time in an old house in a village with no friends, internet, or video games. However, she gets more excitement than she bargained for. Things start to go awry when the curious children venture into Grandpa John’s forbidden spaces in search of their Grandma Rose, who disappeared years ago during a bungled magic trick. Mysterious messages from Grandma Rose start to appear, and the children feel compelled to try to find her. A table from which things disappear, the talking comedy duo of a stag’s head and a bear’s pelt, creatures who skitter around under the floorboards, a ghostly piano player, and various weird and wonderful characters materialize. As the children investigate their grandfather’s history, their mission gets darker, leading to a dramatic denouement in which Hedy uses all her courage to battle evil magical forces. Hedy and Spencer, who read as White, also discover interesting news about their family history. The book may be long, but the plot twists are gripping enough to sustain readers’ attention. The end hints at a sequel.
Never mess with magic—it may come back to bite you. (Paranormal mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-66517-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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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