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
Nonstop, action-packed, episodic exploits against the voracious undead.
Resourceful kids battle hordes of the walking dead.
Residents of several Northern California counties are being advised to evacuate and “flee to safety” in the wake of a zombie epidemic. Lucy Santifer and her family just make it to their car when they are attacked and killed. Nearby, Lucy’s best friend, 12-year-old Joule Artis, climbs into her treehouse, the better to seek her missing father. Elsewhere, 11-year-old Oliver Wachs is holed up in the Redwood Zombie Brigade Headquarters, stocked with weaponry and populated by dedicated zombiefighters. And Regina, 12, is haunted by her narrow zombie escapes even as her mother, Dr. Celeste Herrera, unveils Project Coloma, an ingenious system that uses a zombie treadmill situated in an abandoned gold mine to create much-needed energy for the region. Weinberger’s monster thriller is long on suspense, with several close calls but no graphic violence. The action pings briskly among the three young protagonists, and the punchy prose is suitably pitched to a preteen readership. The plot thickens with the forecast of a Rogue Wave of zombies headed to town. The trio eventually joins forces, promising further fights for freedom. If this horror thrill ride makes readers want to join the zombiefighters, note that there is a video game tie-in. Play at your own risk. Oliver reads white, Regina is cued Latina, and Joule is minimally described and racially ambiguous.
Nonstop, action-packed, episodic exploits against the voracious undead. (link to play the online game) (Adventure. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781338881714
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Georgie's story will capture readers' imaginations with the very first sentences and then hold them hostage until the final...
In 1871, in the small town of Placid, Wis., a sister goes missing and a great adventure begins.
Disconsolate over the end of a promising courtship, Agatha Burkhardt runs off without so much as a goodbye to her younger sister, Georgie. When the sheriff attempts to locate and retrieve Agatha, he brings home not the vibrant sister that Georgie adores, but an unidentifiable body wearing Agatha’s ball gown. Alone in her belief that the body is not her sister’s, Georgie sneaks away in the dead of night, determined to retrace Agatha’s steps in order to solve the mystery of her disappearance and, she hopes, to bring her home. To Georgie's surprise, she’s joined on the journey by her sister’s former flame. And what a journey it is, fraught with mountain lions, counterfeiters and marriage proposals. The truly memorable characters and setting—particularly descriptions of the incredible phenomenon of passenger-pigeon nesting and migration—and the gradual unraveling of the mystery of Agatha’s disappearance make this one hard to put down. The icing on the cake, though, is Georgie’s narration, which is fresh, laugh-out-loud funny and an absolute delight to read.
Georgie's story will capture readers' imaginations with the very first sentences and then hold them hostage until the final page is turned. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86925-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
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