These 11 new stories from award-winning authors of YA mysteries may be set at night but are hardly bedtime reading: Patricia Windsor (``Moon Kill') and Theodore Taylor (``Grind of an Ax'') offer some traditional homicidal maniacs; ghosts in Chris Lynch's ``Bearing Paul'' and Richard Peck's ``Girl at the Window'' lure young people into deadly danger; and Annette Curtis Klause puts a real ``Bogey Man'' in the basement for her unfortunate eight-year-old character to find. Not all of the stories contain supernatural elements—to Harry Mazer's sullen, unnamed lad, the power a loaded gun brings is a ``Beautiful Thing''—or even terror: A seemingly disembodied voice in Norma Fox Mazer's ``The House on Buffalo Street'' leads an unhappy tenant to a new friend, and in Joan Aiken's ``Monkey's Wedding,'' a quirky nonagenarian loses her son, foils a gang of thieves, and gains a great-grandson, all in the same evening. The authors append comments on short story writing and high points in their careers. A sturdy collection, short on gore and explicit violence, long on suspense and imagination. (Short stories. 9-14)
Pub Date: June 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-689-80346-X
Page Count: 175
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1996
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart.
A group of bright friends tackles the puzzle of their lives.
Elmwood, New Hampshire, 11-year-old Gina Sparks is small in stature but big on reporting ongoing dramas for the local newspaper with support from her journalist mom. When an unbelievable scoop comes her way, Gina must rely on her tightknit crew of sixth grade best friends whose initials happen to spell GEEK, a label they choose to proudly reclaim. She and science-minded prankster Elena Hernández, theater kid Edgar Feingarten, and driven math genius Kevin Robinson decide to get to the bottom of things when they learn that the Van Houten Toy & Game Company heir made elaborate plans to leave everything to the town of Elmwood before her death—but only if a member of the community could solve an intricate multistep puzzle. Gina hopes that deciphering the clues and finding the missing fortune will be just the thing to revitalize the down-on-its-luck town and bring the Elmwood Tribune back into the black, saving her mom’s job and Gina’s passion project. The GEEKs work together, using their individual talents and deductive reasoning skills to unravel the mystery. Infused with media literacy pointers, such as the difference between fact and opinion and reminders to avoid bias when reporting, the story encourages readers to think critically. Gina and Edgar read as White; Elena is cued as Latinx, and Kevin is implied Black.
A snappy mystery that’s full of heart. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37793-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Eleven-year-old James Terik isn’t particularly appreciated in the Pompaday household. Marvin, a beetle who lives happily with his “smothering, overinvolved relatives” behind the Pompadays’ kitchen sink, has observed James closely and knows he’s something special even if the boy’s mother and stepfather don’t. Insect and human worlds collide when Marvin uses his front legs to draw a magnificent pen-and-ink miniature for James’s birthday. James is thrilled with his tiny new friend, but is horrified when his mother sees the beetle’s drawing and instantly wants to exploit her suddenly special son’s newfound talents. The web further tangles when the Metropolitan Museum of Art enlists James to help catch a thief by forging a miniature in the style of Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer. Delightful intricacies of beetle life—a cottonball bed, playing horseshoes with staples and toothpicks—blend seamlessly with the suspenseful caper as well as the sentimental story of a complicated-but-rewarding friendship that requires a great deal of frantic leg-wiggling on Marvin’s part. Murphy’s charming pen-and-ink drawings populate the short chapters of this funny, winsome novel. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8270-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2008
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