Shenanigans take a back seat to affairs of the heart in this teenaged Sherlock’s eighth outing. Assigned to find and analyze “art” at either a local gallery or an upcoming Renaissance Faire, Sammy tries both, and stumbles into a tangle of vicious intrigue, inflated egos, hidden motives, and general bad behavior—not unlike junior high school, where Sammy continues to be whipsawed by encounters with archenemy Heather Acosta and her friendly, disturbingly attractive brother Casey. Having foiled an attempted robbery at the gallery that looks more and more like a setup, Sammy smells something fishy—and finds an unlikely ally in her grandma, with whom she lives illegally in a seniors-only apartment, and whose budding romance with Sammy’s septuagenarian confidante Hudson seems headed for the rocks after a charming artist turns his head. Despite robberies, shocking revelations, mysterious strangers, and pumped-up language (“Anyhow, I blasted over to art class, and the minute I blew through the door . . . ”), Sammy’s preoccupation with Gram’s love life and getting her own feelings for Casey in order, along with ruminations about good art vs. bad, orient this episode more toward character and personal issues than its suspenseful, danger-laden precursors. Still, thoughtful readers will understand from Sammy’s anguish, when she sees a work of art that had moved her profoundly destroyed by its larcenous owner, that there are moral felonies at least as wicked as the more conventional legal kind. (Fiction. 11-15)
Pub Date: April 8, 2003
ISBN: 0-375-81176-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
When four 12-year-olds, all born on February 29th, meet by coincidence in an Italian hotel, readers should expect mayhem to ensue—and they won’t be disappointed. The four—Italian Elettra, American Harvey, Chinese Sheng and French Mistral—meet an obviously frightened older man who passes them a briefcase, begs them to keep it safe and hurries off, leaving the kids to chase around Rome looking for a mysterious artifact called the Ring of Fire. In this first of a planned four-book series, plot rules all and shortcuts abound. Characters rarely rise above type while genre tropes propel the story. However, the plot is masterful, with cliffhangers galore, a fair amount of violence and an ending that both satisfies and whets the appetite for more. The full-color insert bound into the center of the book is terrific: Maps, photos, drawings and reproductions set the scene and help readers to visualize the plot. Give this book to Horowitz readers and fans of Michael Scott’s The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel and prepare for another onslaught of readers. (Adventure. 11-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-375-85895-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sophisticated fare for readers in search of a few more Unfortunate Events. Well endowed with classic horror-tale tropes from creepy woods, old curses and creaky mansions to a lunatic asylum with a strange staff and an ichorous pool with uncanny properties, the community of Spooking looms over a modern suburb, seemingly ripe for Development. Strewing broad hints that, except for protagonist Joy, who is ablaze with a massive case of Early Adolescence, and her wholly normal little brother Byron, few if any of Spooking’s residents are quite Who (or What) They Seem, Bracegirdle reprises the general arc of prequel Fiendish Deeds (2008)—subjecting an ominous new scheme of hapless villain Phipps to turn the asylum into an exclusive spa to messy and (more through suggestion than overt detail) gruesome treatment. As observed by the largely uncomprehending Joy, the antics and infatuations of the adults supply most of the comedy, but the thoroughly gothic setting and a madcap climax will keep younger audiences entertained, too. (Comic horror. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4169-3418-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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