A sturdy case.
Seventh grader Elizabeth Webster handles another legal matter.
After defeating the demon Redwing in a court of law, young Elizabeth expected her life to settle down for a little bit, but the law never sleeps! Balancing homework, friends, and her job at her father’s legal firm, Webster & Spawn: Attorneys for the Damned, is tricky enough even before a ghostly mother wails for Elizabeth to protect her long-lost son, Keir McGoogan. The case should be simple enough: Free Keir from his supernatural pact and reunite mother and son. But while Keir’s case gets held up in the courts, Keir must stay with Elizabeth and attend middle school with her. Will Keir’s peculiar behavior expose Elizabeth’s double life? Will Elizabeth be able to successfully argue Keir’s case? Will Elizabeth’s father learn to see her as more than just a legal assistant? This sequel provides a spirited romp through a world of ghosts and goblins with the effortlessly charming Elizabeth at the front of it all. It brings back the exciting mix of legal and paranormal activities that made the first entry such a charmer, but the emotional arc doesn’t hit the same sweet spot as the first. Readers thrilled to return to this world will find plenty to enjoy, but others will find this entry a bit ho-hum. Main characters are White; there’s a bit of diversity among Elizabeth’s friends.
A sturdy case. (Mystery. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-368-06289-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
An abundantly diverting mystery seasoned with mild fantasy and just a little steampunk.
When his parents’ hotel fills up with a variety of unexpected guests just days before Christmas, Milo is caught up in mysterious goings-on.
The inn, hospitable to smugglers and named for its colored glass windows, sits on cliffs above the river Skidwrack. With the holiday interrupted by the demands of guests iced in by wintry weather, Milo finds both purpose and distraction in a role-playing game introduced by his new young friend, Meddy, and in a book of folklore given to him by a guest. A ghost story, a love story, a story of fabled relics and the tale of a legendary smuggler intertwine while Milo, in his game persona, finds longed-for skills and strengths. Each guest seeks a secret treasure in the old house, while Milo, out of loyalty to his adoptive parents, hardly dares name his own secret quest: to know more about his Chinese heritage. Milford’s storytelling is splendid. Stories within the story are rich and layered; clues are generously offered; even the badly behaved visitors seem fairly good-humored until the worst reveals true perfidy at the last; the many threads of the tale all tie up. Milo’s world seems comfortably contemporary; the current history of his parallel world is mostly background that’s revealed at the close.
An abundantly diverting mystery seasoned with mild fantasy and just a little steampunk. (Mystery/fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-05270-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
Riveting.
In this sequel to Bloom (2020), half-alien/half-human teenagers Anaya, Petra, and Seth continue to fight an alien invasion while grappling with their own rapidly changing bodies.
After helping discover an herbicide that delayed the aliens’ initial attempt at colonization—seeding the Earth with deadly plant life—the three friends shelter on Deadman’s Island with Anaya’s and Petra’s parents and Dr. Weber, a scientist who becomes their ally and offers to be parentless Seth’s foster mother. The teens feel safe until Col. Pearson, the head of operations on the island, discovers their secret: that Seth has feathers, Anaya has claws, and Petra has a tail, all as a result of the alien DNA they hadn’t known they were carrying until the Earth became covered in intergalactic flora. Pearson sends the teens to a military base housing 23 other young people with alien DNA. The three are relieved to meet others like them—until they realize that the scientist running the facility has nefarious plans to study them. As the teens’ bodies transform, so do their loyalties: Should they help earthlings, who are mistreating them, or the aliens who gave them their special powers? The book’s character arcs are nuanced and believable and the prose, gorgeously rendered. Oppel’s chillingly beautiful, detailed world is the perfect backdrop to the action-packed plot. Unfortunately, the human characters largely lack any kind of diversity.
Riveting. (Science fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984894-76-2
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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