You can't get much more Nancy Drew than intrepid Texan heroines uncovering a mystery involving ranchers, Spanish ghosts,...
A pragmatic heroine must confront her magical side to save the day, find the ghost, win the boy and corral the goats.
You can't get much more Nancy Drew than intrepid Texan heroines uncovering a mystery involving ranchers, Spanish ghosts, vandalized archaeological digs and lumps of gold. The summer after high school, Amy Goodnight is taking care of Aunt Hyacinth's herb farm. Unlike the rest of the Goodnights—witches or psychics all—Amy intends to succeed in the mundane world. She protects her family of eccentrics, making sure that outsiders see Amy's sister Phin as a whiz with physics and chemistry, rather than a genius with the potions and spells of preternatural science. Meanwhile, Amy spars with cranky young rancher Ben, whose land entirely surrounds Aunt Hyacinth's tiny farm. Amy first meets Ben while she's chasing escaped goats and wearing nothing but cherry-spotted undies and rubber boots: an introduction worthy of the best contemporary adult romance. Before their heated arguments can turn to something more, Amy and Ben had better solve the mystery of The Mad Monk of McCulloch Ranch, who's been conking people over the head. As if that weren't complicated enough, Amy does see a ghost; is he the Mad Monk?Pub Date: July 12, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-385-73693-0
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
A deliciously disturbing, twisted tale.
Teens endure fallout from a game of Bloody Mary.
Everybody’s done it at some point: You look in the mirror and repeat the name Bloody Mary. Sometimes, the legend says, you’ll see your true love. Sometimes they say you’ll see the ghost’s face, and it means you will die young. But these four fourth grade friends—Grace, Calvin, Elena, and Steph—didn’t count on their little game’s still affecting them five years later. They were just having some spooky fun in Elena’s deceased grandmother’s room, after all. But now, even after all these years have passed, each of them still sees a shape behind them whenever they look in a mirror. But the frights really begin when a new girl arrives at school. Her name is Mary. The author effectively and slowly ratchets the tension and dread, crafting some cleverly frightening sequences that fans of the genre will love. Less effective is the characterization: As each chapter pivots perspectives, some readers may have to double back and sort out which of the troubled teens they’re following. As the scares pile up and the descent into madness moves forward, the characterization gets a bit crisper, but the first few chapters may pose a bit of a hurdle. The novel’s conclusion is satisfactory, but the real highlights here are the spooky sequences. The teens are all presumed White.
A deliciously disturbing, twisted tale. (Horror. 12-15)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-67927-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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