Just like gelato: dense, tasty fun that you can eat with a spoon.
Moving to Rome unexpectedly would be hard for any 13-year-old, but via a series of mysterious synchronicities, Beatrice Archer soon finds herself embroiled in international art intrigue as well.
One night Beatrice witnesses a (bronze) turtle theft from her bedroom window overlooking the Fontana di Tartarughe (Turtle Fountain) in the Piazza Mattei. While her father, who heads the history department at the American Academy of Rome, is skeptical of what she saw, soon redheaded, white Beatrice is drawn into the legend behind the sculpture and the history of the Mattei family who commissioned it, including the fate of the long-suffering 16th-century duchess Caterina. Forced to marry a harsh man that she didn’t love, the duchess found solace in her diary (excerpted in the book) and a secret room below her palazzo, which Beatrice and her new friend Marco, a white Italian boy who’s fluent in English, seek to find. Eventually Beatrice deepens her understanding of the Jewish Ghetto neighborhood. Although a few plot details strain credulity, debut author Parks keeps the story moving at a jaunty pace, with rich context, footnoted Italian phrases, and art history pitched at just the right level and tone for middle graders. Readers can find online photos of the sculpture and the Palazzo Mattei di Giove to follow along, and an author’s note provides further context.
Just like gelato: dense, tasty fun that you can eat with a spoon. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-264452-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
Contagiously goofy and fun.
Area 51 gets its first new resident in 5 years—and a new mystery.
When her grandma moves into a kid-free retirement home, 12-year-old orphan Priya “Sky” Patel-Baum and Spike, her pet hedgehog, relocate to Area 51 to live with Sky’s eccentric Uncle Anish. At 51, humans and Break Throughs (government-speak for aliens) live together off-grid in harmony. Unfortunately, several Zdstrammars (one of many Break Through species) mysteriously disappear, disrupting the base’s harmony and contributing to feelings of suspicion. Despite being deputy head of the Federal Bureau of Alien Investigations, Uncle Anish becomes a prime suspect. Can Sky and Elvis, her alien classmate, prove Uncle Anish’s innocence and find the missing Zdstrammars before it’s too late? YA author Buxbaum’s middle-grade debut is a rip-roaring series opener complete with over-the-top characters and jokes galore. Naidu’s black-and-white cartoon illustrations extend the comedy with ongoing commentary that smartly interacts with the prose. The cast of Break Through species—like Audiotooters, Galzorian, and Sanitizoria—have hilariously creative on-the-nose names with illustrations to match. Sky is coded biracial, with a White dad and Indian mom. Aliens appear in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors; Elvis shape-shifts but looks like a brown-skinned boy to Sky. Though the main mystery is neatly wrapped up, the cliffhanger ending promises more laughs.
Contagiously goofy and fun. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-42946-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans.
Only children, rejoice! A cozy mystery just for you! (People with siblings will probably enjoy it too.)
Debut novelist Cornett introduces the One and Onlys, a trio of mystery-solving only kids: Gloria Longshanks “Shanks” Hill, Alexander “Peephole” Calloway, and narrator Paul (alas, no nickname) Marconi. The trio has a knack for finding and solving low-level mysteries, but they come up against a true head-scratcher when the yard of a resident of their small town is covered in rubber ducks overnight. Working ahead of Officer Portnoy, who’s a little on the slow side, can Paul, Shanks, and Peephole solve the mystery? Cornett has a lot of fun with this adventure, dropping additional side mysteries, a subplot about small businesses, big corporations, and economics, and a town’s love of bratwurst into the mix. Most importantly, he plays fair with the clues throughout, allowing astute readers to potentially solve the case ahead of the trio. The tone and mystery are perfect for younger readers who want to test their detective skills but are put off by anything scary or gory. The pacing would serve well for chapter-by-chapter read-alouds. If there are any quibbles, it’s the lack of diversity of the cast, as it defaults white. Diversity exists in small towns, and this one is crying out for more. Hopefully a sequel will introduce additional faces.
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3003-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
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