A charming, old-fashioned–feeling romp
A parentless, put-upon kitchen boy is accused of murdering a magical hotel guest.
Seth Seppi cooks brilliantly, but he’ll never be a chef. Instead he’s the overworked help at the Last Chance Hotel, abused by his “nasty bosses.” Sometimes he sadly recalls the hotel’s popularity in the dimly remembered days before his father’s mysterious disappearance. Mostly, however, he washes dishes, even on nights like this, when some very special guests are due at the hotel. Tiffany, the daughter of Seth’s employers (and Seth’s chief tormenter) blackmails Seth into making a splendid dessert for the guest of honor, Dr. Thallomius, for which she’ll claim credit. When Dr. Thallomius drops dead from poison, Tiffany promptly snitches: Seth made the dessert, so he must be the murderer! Seth’s quest to clear his name is complicated by his realization that Dr. Thallomius and all the other guests at this bizarre party hail from a magical world. One of these odd people—Professor Papperspook in her multicolored, tentlike dress; tiny, scarred, dark-skinned Master Darinder Dunster-Dunstable; glamorous Angelique Squerr with her magical cane; or one of the others—murdered the kindly doctor and pinned the blame on Seth. Thornton’s prose can get clunky and characterization resorts to types, but the plot itself is a nifty, magical spin on the classic locked-room mystery. The book subscribes to the white default for characters not otherwise described.
A charming, old-fashioned–feeling romp . (Fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: May 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-32362-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
It’s not the first time old Ben has paid our times a call, but it’s funny and free-spirited, with an informational load that...
Antics both instructive and embarrassing ensue after a mysterious package left on their doorstep brings a Founding Father into the lives of two modern children.
Summoned somehow by what looks for all the world like an old-time crystal radio set, Ben Franklin turns out to be an amiable sort. He is immediately taken in hand by 7-year-old Olive for a tour of modern wonders—early versions of which many, from electrical appliances in the kitchen to the Illinois town’s public library and fire department, he justly lays claim to inventing. Meanwhile big brother Nolan, 10, tags along, frantic to return him to his own era before either their divorced mom or snoopy classmate Tommy Tuttle sees him. Fleming, author of Ben Franklin’s Almanac (2003) (and also, not uncoincidentally considering the final scene of this outing, Our Eleanor, 2005), mixes history with humor as the great man dispenses aphorisms and reminiscences through diverse misadventures, all of which end well, before vanishing at last. Following a closing, sequel-cueing kicker (see above) she then separates facts from fancies in closing notes, with print and online leads to more of the former. To go with spot illustrations of the evidently all-white cast throughout the narrative, Fearing incorporates change-of-pace sets of sequential panels for Franklin’s biographical and scientific anecdotes. Final illustrations not seen.
It’s not the first time old Ben has paid our times a call, but it’s funny and free-spirited, with an informational load that adds flavor without weight. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-93406-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
A kid adventurer with a disability makes this steampunk offering stand out.
Orphaned twins, an adventurer dad lost to an ice monster, and an airship race around the world.
In Lontown, 12-year-old twins Arthur and Maudie learn that their explorer father has gone missing on his quest to reach South Polaris, the crew of his sky-ship apparently eaten by monsters. As he’s accused of sabotage, their father’s property is forfeit. The disgraced twins are sent off to live in a garret in a scene straight out of an Edwardian novel à la A Little Princess. Maudie has the consolation of her engineering skills, but all Arthur wants is to be an adventurer like his father. A chance to join Harriet Culpepper’s journey to South Polaris might offer excitement and let him clear his father’s name—if only he can avoid getting eaten by intelligent ice monsters. Though some steampunk set dressing is appropriately over-the-top (such as a flying house, thinly depicted but charming), adaptive tools for Arthur’s disability are wonderfully realistic. His iron arm is a standard, sometimes painful passive prosthesis. The crew adapts the airship galley for Arthur’s needs, even creating a spiked chopping board. Off the ship, Arthur and Maudie meet people and animals in vignettes that are appealingly rendered but slight. Harriet teaches the white twins respect for the cultures they encounter on these travels, though they are never more than observers of non-Lontowners’ different ways.
A kid adventurer with a disability makes this steampunk offering stand out. (Steampunk. 9-11)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-324-00564-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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