A perfect beach read for lovers of suspense.
In acclaimed YA author Jackson’s middle-grade debut, 12-year-old Kaylani McKinnon expects bikes, beaches, and books during her first summer on Martha’s Vineyard—not murder.
When she leaves Brooklyn to stay with family friends the Watsons, a well-known Black family, her dad, who’s incarcerated, reminds Kaylani not to worry about him—her “only job is to be a kid.” Still, Kaylani is set on #operationFREEDAD—she even took a mock trial workshop to learn more about how to gain justice for her father. When popular teen Chadwick Cooper is found dead soon after Kaylani arrives on the island, she uses her investigative skills to find the culprit. Snobby London, the younger Watson daughter, reluctantly helps, and Chadwick’s little brother Miles joins in too. But the closer they get to the murderer, the more it seems that Kaylani’s first time on the island may be her last. The story, which centers on Black characters, shines a spotlight on the long history of wealthy Black people summering on Martha’s Vineyard. Employing tight, steady writing, Jackson builds tension around the complexities of class and respectability politics. The worldbuilding and Kaylani’s interior dialogue initially convey more of a YA novel tone, but once the story moves on to the island, the voice successfully settles into a solid middle-grade space. Endearing Kaylani is a little unsure of herself as she has a variety of new social interactions on the island, but overall she’s confident and well adjusted.
A perfect beach read for lovers of suspense. (Mystery. 9-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781338849912
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
SEEN & HEARD
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
