A fun and funny follow-up that celebrates the magic of family and community.
Budding magician Oliver and his twin pals Teenie and Bea are back, three months after their inaugural adventures in The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers (2019).
Readers meet them at a cake testing. The twins’ dads, Yale Drama School graduate and writer Simon and photographer/florist Miguel, are getting married. In the age of out and married politicians running for the presidency, the nuptials are treated matter-of-factly as a milieu for this lighthearted sequel even as the news shocks Oliver because he assumed the dads were already hitched. The ever supportive dads, at their daughters’ insistence, ask Oliver both to be a ring bearer and to entertain the guests at the rehearsal brunch. Of course, Oliver, prodded by the girls and with the help of his talking bunny, Benny, and his cousin Spencer, must elevate his repertoire, so he decides on the titular illusion. The boy magician pulls off the sleight of hand, to his, the twins’, and the guests’ delight...until one of the dads goes missing. With tongue stuffed in his cheek, Bosch builds the silliness with total seriousness, and forces of nature Bea and Teenie make delightful foils for the earnest, slightly anxious Oliver. Pangburn’s cartoons help the text along, depicting all three kids with darker-than-white skin (Oliver is Jewish and the twins, Mexican American) and adding generous dollops of additional humor. Trick instructions are appended.
A fun and funny follow-up that celebrates the magic of family and community. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-55235-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
A riddling, sporting adventure and a story of true friendship.
“Like three sides of the same triangle, none of us can imagine what life would be like if we weren’t together.”
Sarah, West, and Hannah have been an intrepid trio since they first met. They bring their passion for math and numbers and their perfectly aligned strengths to solving escape rooms. With a foreclosure looming on Sarah’s family home—which would mean moving to live with her grandparents in Michigan—the only solution is to seek out the rumored Triplet Treasure belonging to Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein. The treasure is supposedly hidden in a long-abandoned fun house they built in the 1950s. To outmaneuver the triplets’ ingenious riddles and tricks, the friends will need to overcome personal obstacles and unlock the doors within themselves. While the stakes are high, it’s reassuring for readers to know that Sarah’s family has a place to go, even if it’s far away from her friends. Early chapters detail the health challenges faced by Sarah’s father; his chronic illness has placed a strain on the family’s finances. Currie sets up a moving metaphor: Sarah’s enthusiasm for escape rooms becomes a means of tackling the unsolvable puzzle that has left her parent confined to his own inescapable room. This topic is treated with a gentle touch, but Sarah’s emotional depths could have been explored more deeply; West’s and Hannah’s emotional arcs are fulfilling, however. Main characters read white.
A riddling, sporting adventure and a story of true friendship. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781728259536
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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
© Copyright 2024 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.
bookshelf
