It is also great ammunition for every kid who claimed a rude presence under the bed or in the closet: I told you so.
This latest collection of real stories from the paranormal investigatory group The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) has the same punch as its predecessor, Ghost Hunt (2010).
That the stories are the product of actual work conducted by the Society give them a powerful grip on readers’ attention. This happened, like it or not, but probably you’ll like it. The pacing is crisply staccato—“Again the eyes winked out. As if the animal had disappeared. But then there they were again. The eyes were closer. A lot closer”—and cinematic, which is understandable, as these tales have become material for a popular television series. The milieus are excellent, from a lonesome lake to a towering lighthouse to Alcatraz (D Block, where the truly rotten were incarcerated within the incarceration), then to the even more devious everyday: your backyard at night. It is the stuff of all that goes bump in the night: “ ‘I hear footsteps,’ Dave whispered. ‘They’re coming closer!’ Step, drag. Closer. Step, drag. Closer.” Darting shadows, cold spots, phantom smells, orbs, voice phenomena—nay, apparitions!—work readers to the point of tasting the enamel flaking off their grinding teeth.
It is also great ammunition for every kid who claimed a rude presence under the bed or in the closet: I told you so. (Nonfiction. 8-15)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-316-09958-5
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this...
Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar (Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.).
Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles.
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 978-0-374-33265-5
Page Count: 233
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
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Splendiferous—and sure to lead readers back to previous puzzle adventures.
Luigi Lemoncello gets inspiration from a master showman.
After writing five successful adventures starring legendary billionaire Prof. Lemoncello, Grabenstein looks back in time to 1968, when young Luigi, the seemingly talentless middle child in a large Italian American family, realizes that his love for puzzles and games is his personal gift. When the 13-year-old successfully solves the rebus puzzle and attracts more customers to the Balloon-centration booth at a summer carnival, barker Prof. Marvelmous offers him a job. Marvelmous becomes a mentor; his niece, Maggie, a friend. She and Luigi visit the library regularly, follow treasure hunts offered by a local radio station, and work together to discover the secrets of the elaborate puzzle box Marvelmous has created. The author offers hints and instructions for solving the puzzles and has left one more (plus his email address) for readers to solve on their own. The fast-paced narrative includes good reading suggestions, popular music from the ’60s, and occasional solid advice. As in earlier books, there’s stress on the importance of teamwork and empathy—young Luigi is as thoughtful and caring as a teenager as he is later as the donor of a splendid library and instigator of brain-teasing contests. Luigi’s bullying blond nemesis, Chadwick Chiltington, is likely the father of Charles from previous series entries.
Splendiferous—and sure to lead readers back to previous puzzle adventures. (excerpt from Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library) (Fiction. 8-14)Pub Date: May 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-48083-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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