Stim’s entertaining debut takes the reader into a houseboat community as a young preteen tries to catch a killer.
Mary Francis Jackson, 12, known as “Frankie” to her friends, is spending the summer with her aunt Roxy in Sausalito, Calif. Roxy lives on a houseboat, and Frankie enjoys spending her days getting to know her aunt’s eccentric neighbors. It helps Frankie forget the reason she’s in California instead of her home state of New Jersey—she got into trouble after retaliating against a boy who had been teasing her mercilessly. Frankie is determined to have a quiet, uneventful summer, but when a cat is killed and the owner fingers Frankie as the culprit, Frankie must work to clear her name. To do that she must catch the cat’s true murderer, so she begins to sleuth around the houseboat community to uncover the residents’ secrets. Though Frankie is an endearing, resourceful character, she is underdeveloped; while she remains appealing throughout, she never becomes truly sympathetic. The secondary characters are better fleshed-out, though some, such as a washed-up former TV star, come across as caricatures. The houseboat setting is vividly described, the plot moves quickly and readers will be entertained by Frankie’s antics as they try to guess the identity of the cat killer. The ending twist is creative, and readers will be amused as the perpetrator comes to light. Though the novel is riddled with unrealistic plot points, such as a 12-year-old being fitted with a house-arrest anklet by a judge, it’s a fast-paced, entertaining read. Despite its flaws, the book has a charming main character and a diverting plot sure to appeal to fans of whodunit novels.
Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-1453815960
Page Count: 336
Publisher: a&r/ENT
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements.
A wary teen wonders if she should run when people come looking for her.
Lucy Smith was raised by her white father, who said little about her mother. Following his death and her stepmother’s abandonment, Lucy entered the foster care system at 14. Her stepmother revealed that Lucy’s birth mom was Native American, but her social worker urged her to keep that quiet. Battered by her time in the foster care system, it’s no wonder that 18-year-old Lucy is cautious when she’s approached by a man who says he’s an attorney who helps Native American foster kids connect with their families and communities. He introduces her to a friend who reveals to Lucy that she knows her Ojibwe maternal relatives—but a wary Lucy refuses her offer to learn more. Someone is stalking her, after all, and the FBI is investigating the bomb that went off in the diner where she worked—an event she’s sure targeted her. This stand-alone from bestseller Boulley, who’s an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, includes characters her fans will recognize from previous works. The action scenes are mediated by ruminations on the failings of the foster care system and strong portrayals of Lucy’s relationship with her father and her complicated identity. Ardent book lover Lucy is a sympathetic narrator whose strong sense of justice is coupled with a deep acceptance of others.
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements. (content warning, author’s note) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250328533
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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