As a multiethnic detective, Lark’s authentic success at sleuthing ensures her a place at the chapter-book table.
Someone is playing pranks on the community theater’s rehearsals of Alice in Wonderland. The Ba twins spring into action to solve this mystery before the play is shut down.
The third title in the Lark Ba Detective series begins at play rehearsals, where suspicious problems are showing up every day. The confusion and resultant delay are jeopardizing the entire play, causing everyone to be on edge. Both Lark and Connor have parts to rehearse, but they would rather find out who has removed the buttons from the costumes and taken the light bulbs from the makeup vanities. Their mixed-race family (Korean and Kenyan) is reintroduced but takes a back seat to the investigation. Lark’s personality, however, is full of curiosity and determination, leading readers down the rabbit hole of clues. Like any good mystery, the book offers a list of suspects, red herrings, organized clues, and a moment of truth. The plot and pacing slowly build through the rehearsals just as the production nears showtime. This realistic story involves finding someone caught in a difficult situation and the hard decision to tell someone in charge. It wasn’t a high crime, like stealing diamonds. But it also wasn’t an accident, like losing a key. When friends and family are involved, solving mysteries can be complicated.
As a multiethnic detective, Lark’s authentic success at sleuthing ensures her a place at the chapter-book table. (Mystery. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1715-9
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A playful addition to an entertaining and punny series.
This third installment relies on the series’ winning formula: puns galore, a mystery, and unreliable magic.
At the Covenly Fall Fair, the three witches, Yuckmina, Hildegurp, and Glubbifer, run their carnival ride, the Flying Broom, while Jessica, their sensible 9-year-old friend from the earlier books, manages the nearby petting zoo. Soon, they have a mystery on their hands: One of the prize hens, Ruth Bader Ginsbuck; a vest-wearing, top-hatted frog; and the sisters’ cat, Graymalkin, are missing. Can the detectives find them—and also undo some unfortunate romantic and shape-shifting spells, distract a demanding spoiled boy, and avoid falling “fowl” of a chicken-suited villain who seems to have it in for the sisters? Many of the book’s puns will be spotted only by the Shakespeare-fluent—some reference Macbeth, while even more creatively distort Hamlet—but others are universally glee- or groan-worthy. Though the plot is chaotic, short chapters set a brisk pace, and all is resolved (and forgiven) by the end. As usual, the witches don’t always wield their wands effectively, but they can produce any necessary props from their clothing. The wordplay occasionally contains an explicit bit of wisdom (“Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t make it wrong”). Rust’s lively black-and-white illustrations reflect Covenly’s diversity, though the book doesn’t specify the characters’ specific races and ethnicities.
A playful addition to an entertaining and punny series. (caramel apples recipe) (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781771476041
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
A rollicking intergalactic adventure bursting with laughs and alien antics.
When Elvis the dog chases a strange creature through the neighborhood, an ordinary evening with the babysitter turns extraterrestrial.
Siblings Val and Mateo Garcia-Jackson, babysitter Jennica, and neighbor Booker know they’ll be in deep trouble if they don’t find Elvis before Mom and Dad get home. The only problem? Elvis has entered a portal to Boogbee City, located on Kroon, the “most awesome planet in Flooktar Nebula.” The gang enlists two friendly alien teens named Clorox and Noway to help them in their quest to rescue the beloved pup. The two don’t seem all that different from earthling adolescents, except for their pointy ears, their all-consuming obsession with pizza, and their tendency to butcher outdated Earth slang learned from old American media. The kids encounter a series of astronomical disasters along the way, from a hovercraft ride that ends in a collision with a band of broccoli smugglers to a trip inside the mouth of a giant monster that eats only once a year. Short, accessible chapters are peppered with angular, cartoonish, black-and-white illustrations, adding depth and humor to Hale’s out-of-this-world text. Though this action-packed alien tale is light on character development, kids will surely gravitate toward it anyway. The Garcia-Jackson kids are cued Latine, while the alien teens are described as having medium brown skin. In the artwork, Booker presents Black, while Jennica appears brown-skinned.
A rollicking intergalactic adventure bursting with laughs and alien antics. (Science fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780593660171
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
