by Rohan Gavin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 17, 2015
A teeth-gnashing thriller more macabre than its predecessor, it will have readers (ahem) howling for a third.
The second in the Knightley and Son series gets a little darker, offering more bite, tragedy and paternal dysfunction, as well as respectable levels of gore.
Darkus Knightley is the primary tool his periodically comatose father, Alan, taps to continue investigating the elusive criminal gang, the Combination. At the end of Knightley and Son (2014), their partnership looked promising and, optimistically, so did their fractured familial relationship. As the book opens, however, paterfamilias is working alone again. Darkus, left in the company of an incontinent but loyal former war dog, discovers something afoot. A number of dogs are missing at Hampstead Heath, and enormous, bloodthirsty mutts are appearing during full moons to maul police officers (werewolf theories abound). Pressing his father to work together again, Darkus finds that Knightley’s suggestion that they be a detecting duo was more of a pacifier than a promise, and the feeling of abandonment returns. This is readable as a stand-alone, but familiarity with the first installment will give readers the full scope of Darkus’ frustration with a physically and emotionally absent father. Though it suffers some from second-book syndrome, its closer examination of the father-son relationship, the endearing boy-and-his-dog thread, the conversely violent thrill of the occult, and one of the creepiest, multifaceted villains this side of Moriarty will ensnare readers.
A teeth-gnashing thriller more macabre than its predecessor, it will have readers (ahem) howling for a third. (Mystery. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61963-494-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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by Rohan Gavin
by Elinor Teele ; illustrated by Ben Whitehouse ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 12, 2016
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish.
The dreary prospect of spending a lifetime making caskets instead of wonderful inventions prompts a young orphan to snatch up his little sister and flee. Where? To the circus, of course.
Fortunately or otherwise, John and 6-year-old Page join up with Boz—sometime human cannonball for the seedy Wandering Wayfarers and a “vertically challenged” trickster with a fantastic gift for sowing chaos. Alas, the budding engineer barely has time to settle in to begin work on an experimental circus wagon powered by chicken poop and dubbed (with questionable forethought) the Autopsy. The hot pursuit of malign and indomitable Great-Aunt Beauregard, the Coggins’ only living relative, forces all three to leave the troupe for further flights and misadventures. Teele spins her adventure around a sturdy protagonist whose love for his little sister is matched only by his fierce desire for something better in life for them both and tucks in an outstanding supporting cast featuring several notably strong-minded, independent women (Page, whose glare “would kill spiders dead,” not least among them). Better yet, in Boz she has created a scene-stealing force of nature, a free spirit who’s never happier than when he’s stirring up mischief. A climactic clutch culminating in a magnificently destructive display of fireworks leaves the Coggin sibs well-positioned for bright futures. (Illustrations not seen.)
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish. (Adventure. 11-13)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234510-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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by Tae Keller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 28, 2020
Longing—for connection, for family, for a voice—roars to life with just a touch of magic.
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A young girl bargaining for the health of her grandmother discovers both her family’s past and the strength of her own voice.
For many years, Lily’s Korean grandmother, Halmoni, has shared her Asian wisdom and healing powers with her predominantly White community. When Lily, her sister, Sam—both biracial, Korean and White—and their widowed mom move in with Halmoni to be close with her as she ages, Lily begins to see a magical tiger. What were previously bedtime stories become dangerously prophetic, as Lily begins to piece together fact from fiction. There is no need for prior knowledge of Korean folktales, although a traditional Korean myth propels the story forward. From the tiger, Lily learns that Halmoni has bottled up the hard stories of her past to keep sadness at bay. Lily makes a deal with the tiger to heal her grandmother by releasing those stories. What she comes to realize is that healing doesn’t mean health and that Halmoni is not the only one in need of the power of storytelling. Interesting supporting characters are fully developed but used sparingly to keep the focus on the simple yet suspenseful plot. Keller infuses this tale, which explores both the end of life and coming-of-age, with a sensitive examination of immigration issues and the complexity of home. It is at one and the same time completely American and thoroughly informed by Korean culture.
Longing—for connection, for family, for a voice—roars to life with just a touch of magic. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1570-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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by Tae Keller ; illustrated by Geraldine Rodríguez
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by Tae Keller ; illustrated by Geraldine Rodríguez
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by Tae Keller ; illustrated by Geraldine Rodríguez
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