More expertly crafted chills and thrills, leavened with laughs.
Investigating a teacher’s sudden personality change leads a set of sixth grade sleuths into serious danger in this second series caper.
A relentless bully who posts popular videos of his humiliating attacks, and a bossy new classmate aiming to replace her as leader of the Detective Club, may seem like tough challenges for Minerva Keen, but what really gets her attention is how her once-friendly language arts teacher, Claire Voyant, has abruptly turned harsh and dismissive—almost (could it be possible?) as if she were a different person. Ever alert for mysteries to solve—even if a bit of illegal surveillance or breaking and entering is required—Minerva forges ahead. Her outrageously reckless little brother, Heck, is a willing ally, shy best friend and schoolmate Silent Santos is a reluctant one, and (surprise!) even Zoe Quick, a rival overachiever with serious hacking skills, eventually comes on board. Catering equally to readers who relish their crime capers on the comical or scary sides, the co-authors again dish up a rousing combo platter with awkward mishaps, frequent barfing and belching, and sloppy food fights as well as a juicy round of robbery, kidnapping, and attempted murder. Once just deserts have been dealt out all round, the caper leaves Minerva and Heck with just one tantalizing question: Are their enigmatic, often-absent parents actually secret agents? Stay tuned. Minerva presents white, and Santos and Zoe read Black. Final art not seen.
More expertly crafted chills and thrills, leavened with laughs. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: April 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780316412537
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
Full of puzzles to think about, puns to groan at and references to children’s book titles, this solid, tightly plotted read...
When a lock-in becomes a reality game, 12-year-old Kyle Keeley and his friends use library resources to find their way out of Alexandriaville’s new public library.
The author of numerous mysteries for children and adults turns his hand to a puzzle adventure with great success. Starting with the premise that billionaire game-maker Luigi Lemoncello has donated a fortune to building a library in a town that went without for 12 years, Grabenstein cleverly uses the tools of board and video games—hints and tricks and escape hatches—to enhance this intricate and suspenseful story. Twelve 12-year-old winners of an essay contest get to be the first to see the new facility and, as a bonus, to play his new escape game. Lemoncello’s gratitude to the library of his childhood extends to providing a helpful holographic image of his 1968 librarian, but his modern version also includes changing video screens, touch-screen computers in the reading desks and an Electronic Learning Center as well as floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stretching up three stories. Although the characters, from gamer Kyle to schemer Charles Chiltington, are lightly developed, the benefits of pooling strengths to work together are clear.
Full of puzzles to think about, puns to groan at and references to children’s book titles, this solid, tightly plotted read is a winner for readers and game-players alike. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-87089-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
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Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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