Possibly littered with Easter eggs from the game but not worth reading except by superfans of the game…if such exist.
Raven Brooks is certainly an odd town, but Nick’s neighbors might be a bit more dangerous than odd.
Twelve-year-old Nick Roth has moved a lot with his newspaper-editor father and his college-professor mother. He’s never anywhere long enough to call it home or make a real friend. He’s happy when Aaron Peterson from across the street starts a dialogue holding up notes on paper to his bedroom window…and Aaron is even better at picking locks than Nick! (Because of course picking locks is a common hobby among preteens.) But Aaron’s family is strange, and his father alternates between charm and menace. The boys explore an abandoned factory with a hallway full of locked doors and a defunct amusement park tied to the town’s recent past. The longer Nick’s in town, the more he discovers that the recent past is not a happy one…and Aaron’s family appears to be tied to the tragedy that has marked Ravens Brook. Released as a “prequel” to the critically panned stealth-horror video game “Hello Neighbor,” West’s flimsy and uninteresting mystery leaves much to be desired. Nick’s family dynamic is nothing unique, but it is within a stone’s throw of reality—unlike most of the rest of the setup. Two-color illustrations by Heitz offer few clues to the contrived mystery but depict both Nick’s and Aaron’s families as white.
Possibly littered with Easter eggs from the game but not worth reading except by superfans of the game…if such exist. (Adventure. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-28007-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t.
Brothers, one neurodivergent, team up to shoot baskets and find a thief.
With the coach spit-bellowing at him to play better or get out, basketball tryouts are such a disaster for 11-year-old Green that he pelts out of the gym—becoming the chief suspect to everyone except his fiercely protective older brother, Cedar, when a valuable ring vanishes from the coach’s office. Used to being misunderstood, Green is less affected by the assumption of his guilt than Cedar, whose violent reactions risk his suspension. Switching narrative duties in alternating first-person chapters, the brothers join forces to search for clues to the real thief—amassing notes, eliminating possibilities (only with reluctance does Green discard Ringwraiths from his exhaustive list of possible perps), and, on the way to an ingenious denouement, discovering several schoolmates and grown-ups who, like Cedar, see Green as his own unique self, not just another “special needs” kid. In an author’s note, King writes that he based his title characters on family members, adding an element of conviction to his portrayals of Green as a smart, unathletic tween with a wry sense of humor and of Cedar’s attachment to him as founded in real affection, not just duty. Ultimately, the author finds positive qualities to accentuate in most of the rest of the cast too, ending on a tide of apologies and fence-mendings. Cedar and Green default to White.
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-261-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A promising fiction debut.
Family secrets, an unsolved bank robbery, summer on a lake, a treasure island and a first romance are the ingredients for this inviting middle-grade mystery.
Unhappy with his new life and new stepfather in Southern California, 13-year-old Trav runs away to the small town in Minnesota where his dad grew up and his grandmother lives. He quickly learns why his mother won’t talk about his father, who died before he was born. Suspected of having robbed a local bank, the man disappeared in a storm, his boat washed up on an island in the lake. Everyone figures Trav knows where the money is, a theory confirmed when some of the burgled money turns up in local stores after his arrival. Trav manages to convince neighbor kid Kenny and his hot cousin Iz of his innocence, and together, they try to figure out where the loot might have been stashed and who has sent Trav a threatening note. Careful plotting and end-of-chapter cliffhangers add to the suspense. The first-person narration suggests that Trav’s imagination has been fed by too much television, but the imagined threats become frighteningly real as the story progresses. Trav’s voice is believable, Bullard’s Minnesota setting full of convincing detail, and the boy’s hesitant romantic efforts add a pleasant embellishment.
A promising fiction debut. (Mystery. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-544-02900-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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