Lynn is sure that her sister Judith, who spends a mysterious lot of time taking sewing lessons from morbid old Mrs. Tuggle on the hill, is a witch, and when the girls' parents take a weekend trip, calling in Mrs. Tuggle as resident sitter, on just the night that witches are said to take the blood of infants for their spells, Lynn is terrified for her little brother Stevie. The circumstantial evidence mounts, culminating in a midnight struggle — but when Mother, a writer, returns, she tells of an ending she has invented for the story that Lynn's suspicions have inspired: "At the very end, in a horribly scary scene with the old woman and Ann (Lynn) alone together, their two shadows mingling in the light of the candle, Ann discovers that it is not really Elsie (Judith) after all who is becoming a witch, but she herself; and when she looks in the mirror, she sees instead the face of the old woman." An underhanded way perhaps to work a trick ending the author herself would reject into a story that had to have one, but it does get the point across to Lynn — and to readers who will at times be half convinced that she's right.
Pub Date: March 12, 1975
ISBN: 0689853157
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1975
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An enjoyable read that artfully mixes adventure, heart, and cultural competence.
A hearing boy and his deaf friend use ASL, gondolas, and the Dewey decimal system to solve a mystery in Kane’s debut middle-grade novel.
Charlie struggles to be heard. His parents traipse around the globe saving rare animals, leaving him in the care of his grandparents, who would rather watch TV than engage. That changes when he boards a rickety gondola to the Flying Hands Cafe, part of the Castle School for the Deaf. There he meets Frog, an energetic deaf girl intrigued by a mystery swirling around her favorite author. The solid narrative includes a zany cast of characters (none of whom are explicitly racialized), a fast-moving plot, and a low-stakes but suspenseful mystery. What makes this story stand out is the depiction of Deaf culture and community, likely drawn from the author’s education and work as an interpreter. Uninformed readers will learn some signs and letters of the alphabet, both from the writing and the finely detailed illustrations heading each chapter, as well as absorbing information about ASL and Deaf etiquette. (For example, Charlie’s grandmother asks if he and Frog are sweethearts; when Frog asks what Grandma said, the embarrassed Charlie “almost wrote ‘never mind’ before he realized how rude that would be. Frog had a right to know.”) Deaf readers, as well as hearing children with deaf family members and others enmeshed in Deaf community, will see familiar cultural markers, such as the “Deaf can” motto and the school’s importance in the local community.
An enjoyable read that artfully mixes adventure, heart, and cultural competence. (Mystery. 7-12)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-368-00582-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another deliciously hair-raising entry in a series that continues to make a huge splash.
A recreational sailing trip goes south when a lake monster attacks.
In this third entry in the Small Spaces quartet, friends Brian, Ollie, and Coco haven’t felt safe in months. When a cryptic note with a black circle appears at Brian’s house one night, the sixth graders fear that spring in East Evansburg will bring new terrors from their cunning foe, “the smiling man.” Coco’s mom, a reporter, invites the tweens and Ollie’s dad (her boyfriend) to do a Lake Champlain boat tour and learn about Champ, Vermont’s fabled aquatic monster. But a freak rainstorm brings mist, a mysterious island, and silvery water snakes that attack not only the passengers, but the boat itself. The passengers escape to the island, but with no boat, no food, and a monstrous snake hunting them, it’s clear they are in more than just hot water. Arden skillfully blends a creature feature with a survival tale, taking the series into new territory without deviating from its successful formula. The deliberate pacing maintains a palpable sense of dread, equally anxiety-inducing and terrifying. Focalizing through Brian, Arden not only digs deeper into his characterization, but also brings a peripheral character, Phil, into the main squad. The cast is majority White; Brian is Black. The cliffhanger ending sets the stage for a high-stakes final book.
Another deliciously hair-raising entry in a series that continues to make a huge splash. (Horror. 9-13)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-10915-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
© 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.
