Stubborn and clever without being superhuman, Max is a refreshing heroine who rises above a so-so mystery.
Vaught (Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry, 2016, etc.) examines the limits of expectations and electrical currents.
Under the care of Toppy, her cantankerous grandfather, white, decidedly unsentimental Maxine Brennan is working off a grounding by critiquing sentimental movies and modifying the electronics on her motorized wheelchair. When a hacker threatens Toppy and the town of Blue Creek, Tennessee, with the legendary “Thornwood’s Revenge,” 12-year-old Max channels her favorite comic-book superheroes and vows to save the day. High-tech jargon and spooky-old-house trappings collide as Max explores the home and history of the late Hargrove Thornwood, the legendary town villain. Meanwhile, Max must control her temper and face her estranged mother. The characters’ small-town familiarity and police chief Toppy’s ignorance of technology allow Max to handle aspects of the criminal investigation that would likely be forbidden in real life. However, such leeway also allows Max to learn the limits of her chair and herself. Max’s emotional growth creates more impact than the mystery’s resolution; the culprit is barely developed. The rift between Max and her mother resolves far less neatly; the author’s frank inclusion of the environmental and financial barriers between them highlights an often overlooked angle of disability, lending reality to the occasionally implausible proceedings.
Stubborn and clever without being superhuman, Max is a refreshing heroine who rises above a so-so mystery. (Mystery. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8683-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A shivery, ghostly mystery.
When looking for ghosts, be prepared for what you might find.
Josie and her best friends, Alison and Jackson, write “The Magnifiying Glass,” an investigative column for their school newspaper. It’s fine but not flashy enough to get them coveted editorial positions when they reach eighth grade next year. That’s how they find themselves on Halloween night with a plan to visit the local cemetery to find out whether the “super-famous ghost” known as the Lady in White is actually real—a topic that, if well executed, will make their column unforgettable. The three carefully plan a weekend unfettered by parental supervision in order to conduct their research. Their paranormal encounter begins with all three receiving unsettling, ominous text messages: “I’m watching” and “You have 2 days.” The haunting begins in earnest when the kids get home, intensifying from small, explainable things—dirt on the floor, a glitching computer—to clear signs that if the spirits aren’t put to rest, the consequences will be dire. Adults remain on the sidelines, raising the stakes and keeping the focus firmly on the relationship among the friends, which feels authentic. The scares feel real, and the central mystery becomes even more interesting from the elements that are rooted in reality and described in the author’s note, which includes photos. The three friends are coded white.
A shivery, ghostly mystery. (Supernatural. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593811634
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pratchett-like worldbuilding centers immigrant kids in a story filled with culture, humor, and heart.
At home in Haiti, 10-year-old Gabrielle Marie Jean loves the rain, scary stories, beating the boys in mango-eating contests, and her family, most of all.
When her parents’ paperwork issues mean she must immigrate to the United States alone, every heavenly thing she believes about America can’t outweigh the sense of dread she feels in leaving everything she knows behind. A preternaturally sensitive child, Gabrielle feels responsible for not only her own success, but her whole family’s, so the stakes of moving in with her uncle, aunt, and cousins in Brooklyn are high—even before Lady Lydia, a witch, tries to steal her essence. Lydia makes her an offer she can’t refuse: achieving assimilation. Arnold skillfully fuses distinct immigrant experiences with the supernatural to express a universally felt desire for belonging. Gabrielle desperately wants to fit in despite the xenophobia she experiences every day and despite making new, accepting friends in Mexican American Carmen and Rocky the talking rat-rabbit. But in trying to change herself, Gabrielle risks giving Lydia the power to conquer Brooklyn. Gabrielle is a charming narrator, and of course, good guy (girl) magic wins out in the end, but the threat to immigrant lives and identities is presented poignantly nonetheless in this richly imaginative origin story of one Haitian American girl that offers a fantastical take on immigrant narratives.
Pratchett-like worldbuilding centers immigrant kids in a story filled with culture, humor, and heart. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-27275-5
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Versify/HMH
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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