Suspense, a winsome cast and setting, and an admirable lead make this sequel a cat-egorical success.
Using dogged detective work, an intrepid young New Yorker solves a feline felony.
Readers will be hooked from the first page, when Elodie LaRue, her friend Oscar Delgado, and her terrier, Carnegie, witness an apparent murder from Elodie’s apartment window. Luckily, it’s just a scene from a movie being filmed in the courtyard of Elodie’s building, the storied Biltmore, based on the real-life Apthorp on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. But Elodie and Oscar soon have an actual mystery on their hands when 10-year-old Tiya Benson reports that Bijou, a cat starring in the film, has been stolen. Tiya’s mother works as Bijou’s nanny; the cat belonged to a now-deceased fashion designer who willed his apartment to his pet. Tiya blames herself; she arrived late to pick Bijou up from a grooming appointment, only to find her gone. The need for secrecy (Tiya hasn’t told her mother what’s going on) and other complications make the case increasingly complex. Short chapters, a fast-paced plot, and a broad, diverse cast of quirky characters (some new, others who appeared in Elodie’s first outing) will entice readers. Psychology proves just as important as physical evidence; sensitive, insightful Elodie picks up on clues while also paying close attention to character motivation. Collins’ sparkling, stylish color illustrations add verve. Elodie is light-skinned, while Tiya and Oscar are brown-skinned.
Suspense, a winsome cast and setting, and an admirable lead make this sequel a cat-egorical success. (Mystery. 7-11)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781772783360
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Pajama Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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