A totally satisfying third round of bonding à la Knightley (you know, with kidnapping, sleuthing, disguises, and murder).
Sunblock protects Anglo pallor from the unrelenting Western sun, but it doesn’t do much for fending off the Combination’s villainy.
Darkus has turned his back on the detecting life after losing his canine companion in the previous book (K-9, 2015) and now occupies himself with social media and (gasp) parties. He’s forced back into the family business when beloved housekeeper Bogna is kidnapped by the Combination. On a Bogna-recovery mission, Darkus, father Alan, and stepsister Tilly travel from London to Las Vegas via an eventful series of detours. Tragedy has shaped their lives, and as they follow a trail of Combination crumbs, they could be galloping headlong into more. This episode has more of a cinematic Fleming flavor than the earlier Conan Doyle–esque adventures: there are gadgets galore, action-filled brushes with death, and show-stopping settings. Though cast familiars return, there’s the welcome, albeit brief, addition of a Knightley & Son doppelgänger—African-American father-and-son investigators in Los Angeles. With more adults populating the book than teens, it’s Darkus and Tilly who really keep the pages turning. Though it’s a mission to save Bogna and cripple the Combination, the crux of Darkus’ purpose is to reunite his parents, while Tilly seeks the truth behind her mother’s death—an answer for which neither she nor Darkus is prepared.
A totally satisfying third round of bonding à la Knightley (you know, with kidnapping, sleuthing, disguises, and murder). (Mystery. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61963-830-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series.
An orphaned street urchin is recruited into an elite school for thieves.
In an alternate world where France is the dominant world power, 13-year-old Tom Morgan has had to scrimp, starve, and steal on the streets of London to survive. Born into a workhouse, he doesn’t know anything about his father, while his mother may have been from North Africa. One thing he does know is the sort of cruelty that awaits the poor who are sent to the workhouse, and he’s determined not to go back. But when their camp is raided and his friends are captured by workhouse agents, the only thing Tom can think of is how to get them out. Enter the Corsair, a cunning and mysterious man with a proposition: He wants to recruit Tom into Beaufort’s School for Deceptive Arts. From nabbing treasures to forging identity papers, Beaufort’s promises to teach Tom everything he needs to know to become a Shadow Thief and a member of the Shadow League, the secret global organization that helps keep the world’s political power in balance. But Beaufort’s has its own rules and secrets, and if Tom is to survive long enough to help his friends, he’ll need to figure them out quickly. Clever and gripping, this fast-paced boarding school story will appeal to fans of the Mysterious Benedict Society and Spy School series.
A thrilling first installment in an adventurous new series. (Adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781665982283
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when...
Two sisters make an unauthorized expedition to their former hometown and in the process bring together the two parts of their divided family.
Dooley packs plenty of emotion into this eventful road trip, which takes place over the course of less than 24 hours. Twelve-year-old Ophelia, nicknamed Fella, and her 16-year-old sister, Zoey Grace, aka Zany, are the daughters of a lesbian couple, Shannon and Lacy, who could not legally marry. The two white girls squabble and share memories as they travel from West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, where Zany is determined to scatter Mama Lacy’s ashes in accordance with her wishes. The year is 2004, before the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and the girls have been separated by hostile, antediluvian custodial laws. Fella’s present-tense narration paints pictures not just of the difficulties they face on the trip (a snowstorm, car trouble, and an unlikely thief among them), but also of their lives before Mama Lacy’s illness and of the ways that things have changed since then. Breathless and engaging, Fella’s distinctive voice is convincingly childlike. The conversations she has with her sister, as well as her insights about their relationship, likewise ring true. While the girls face serious issues, amusing details and the caring adults in their lives keep the tone relatively light.
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when Fella’s family figures out how to come together in a new way . (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16504-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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