A great collection to have handy for Halloween classroom reading or a campfire.
The man behind Goosebumps and Fear Street assembles a collection of short stories written by his peers in the Mystery Writers of America.
In the first tale, authored by Stine himself, siblings Freddy and Teddy lose brand-new bikes to the local bullies who have terrorized them for ages. In sync with the other scary twists found in this anthology, “The Best Revenge” delivers as Freddy and Teddy get satisfaction when they offer an unexpected surprise to their nemeses straight from the dead. In Ray Daniel’s “Rule Seven,” Josh has set up a phenomenal prank in the local haunted house to scare his dad, only the prank goes awry when things get real after hours. “Area Code 666,” by Carter Wilson, presents 12-year-old motherless Julia, who gets her first cellphone for her birthday—and begins to receive cryptic text messages from beyond. Tonya Hurley’s “The Girl in the Window” has a Hitchcock-like title and tells the story of a young girl who becomes obsessed with a lifelike store mannequin, a relationship that ultimately spins out of control in a twist reminiscent of The Twilight Zone. Though it is not notable for its diversity, it’s a good, old-fashioned collection of modern scary stories, offering humor, innocence, and just enough fright to keep things age-appropriate, with no profanity, blood, or gore.
A great collection to have handy for Halloween classroom reading or a campfire. (Horror short stories. 8-12)Pub Date: July 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249569-3
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
Contagiously goofy and fun.
Area 51 gets its first new resident in 5 years—and a new mystery.
When her grandma moves into a kid-free retirement home, 12-year-old orphan Priya “Sky” Patel-Baum and Spike, her pet hedgehog, relocate to Area 51 to live with Sky’s eccentric Uncle Anish. At 51, humans and Break Throughs (government-speak for aliens) live together off-grid in harmony. Unfortunately, several Zdstrammars (one of many Break Through species) mysteriously disappear, disrupting the base’s harmony and contributing to feelings of suspicion. Despite being deputy head of the Federal Bureau of Alien Investigations, Uncle Anish becomes a prime suspect. Can Sky and Elvis, her alien classmate, prove Uncle Anish’s innocence and find the missing Zdstrammars before it’s too late? YA author Buxbaum’s middle-grade debut is a rip-roaring series opener complete with over-the-top characters and jokes galore. Naidu’s black-and-white cartoon illustrations extend the comedy with ongoing commentary that smartly interacts with the prose. The cast of Break Through species—like Audiotooters, Galzorian, and Sanitizoria—have hilariously creative on-the-nose names with illustrations to match. Sky is coded biracial, with a White dad and Indian mom. Aliens appear in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors; Elvis shape-shifts but looks like a brown-skinned boy to Sky. Though the main mystery is neatly wrapped up, the cliffhanger ending promises more laughs.
Contagiously goofy and fun. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-42946-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
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
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