Eerie and icky but benign both in specter and theme.
A campfire tale with a memorably macabre ghost.
Chupeco assembles a new Midnight Society to gather around the campfire for this tie-in to the TV series Are You Afraid of the Dark? and cleverly fashions a spooky yarn with themes that apply directly to the frame story. Levi, the new kid in middle school, gets a hostile reception from rival Blake, who’s trying out for the same position on the basketball team. Levi auditions to join the society with a story about Zane and Garrett, two like rivals who, after repeated visitations from the locally famous ghost of a woman with no lower jaw, find themselves allied in uncovering a 200-year-old mystery involving three vanished and presumably murdered orphaned children. Along with plenty of weird noises, creepy manifestations, and old books and bones unexpectedly revealed, the author adds extra measures of grossness by casting Garrett as the child of undertakers whom Zane watches carrying out their explicitly described work. (They also truck in Mr. Vink, an enigmatic recurring character on the show, for a guest appearance.) Nonetheless, come an end to the lurid dreams and screams, the ghost turns out to be benevolent for all her appearance, and like Zane and Garrett, Levi and Blake wind up on the road to friendship, differences resolved. One society member is nonbinary; Garrett’s dad is cued Filipino, and other cast members are minimally described.
Eerie and icky but benign both in specter and theme. (Paranormal. 9-13)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9781419763496
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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