A mystery serving as a gateway into Puerto Rican culture, traditions, and panorama, narrated by a one-of-a-kind Latina...
Precocious self-styled Detective Flaca returns, now 11 years old, in a mystery set in Puerto Rico.
The second book in the Flaca Files takes Flaca and her family (including older sister “La Bruja”) to Puerto Rico for a week to celebrate Los Reyes Magos, or Three Kings Day. Flaca learns that she’ll have to miss time from school, neglect pending cases, survive living with no air conditioning, wear mosquito repellent at all times, and face her fear of flying. Before boarding their San Juan–bound flight, she starts a file on what she deems a suspicious holiday (she’s certain the wise men don’t really ride flying camels) and makes a point to get to the bottom of it once in Puerto Rico. Vicente knows the Puerto Rican landscape well, taking readers beyond its well-known beaches to its mountains. Through Flaca's trenchant narration, readers get a fair sense of the new terrain, from the applause once the plane lands safely to the family gatherings to the coquí—a local tree frog known for its evening song. She neatly summarizes the holiday party as “eat, dance, talk, repeat.” In 56 pages, Vicente tackles Flaca's identity and general family values, but she does not recap basic details from her protagonist’s first outing, The Missing Chancleta (2013). The original English version occupies the first half of the book, and Baeza Ventura’s Spanish translation, the second half.
A mystery serving as a gateway into Puerto Rican culture, traditions, and panorama, narrated by a one-of-a-kind Latina gumshoe. (Bilingual mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: May 31, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5588-5-822-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
Breathless action and engaging puzzles make this a page-turner.
In this follow-up to The Mystery of Locked Rooms (2024), young escape artists rashly accept a mysterious game designer’s offer to get a sneak peek at a challenging new set of escape rooms.
Worried by announcements of a new, high-tech fun house that might drive their employer, the Delta Game, out of business, middle schooler Sarah and her friends Hannah and West jump at the chance to give Mystery Mansion a try before it opens to the public. More’s at stake than they suspect, but Currie dispenses with the backstory in a perfunctory way at the end. Her real focus—and the chief appeal here—lies in the set of fiendishly clever escape rooms that she’s devised for the trio and the team dynamics that carry them through: Hannah is the reckless thrill seeker, West is the observant brainiac, and anxiety-prone Sarah has a knack for making correct choices. The story cranks up the suspense, and the Deltas call on all the courage and smarts they can muster, sweeping readers along as they work urgently against the clock to complete the course. Hannah is cued white, West is described as dark-haired, and narrator Sarah isn’t physically described.
Breathless action and engaging puzzles make this a page-turner. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781464234941
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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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