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
Fast-paced and plot-driven.
In his latest, prolific author Gratz takes on Hitler’s Olympic Games.
When 13-year-old American gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games, she has one goal: stardom. If she can bring home a gold medal like her friend, the famous equestrian-turned-Hollywood-star Mary Brooks, she might be able to lift her family out of their Dust Bowl poverty. But someone slips a strange note under Evie’s door, and soon she’s dodging Heinz Fischer, the Hitler Youth member assigned to host her, and meeting strangers who want to make use of her gymnastic skills—to rob a bank. As the games progress, Evie begins to see the moral issues behind their sparkling facade—the antisemitism and racism inherent in Nazi ideology and the way Hitler is using the competition to support and promote these beliefs. And she also agrees to rob the bank. Gratz goes big on the Mission Impossible–style heist, which takes center stage over the actual competitions, other than Jesse Owens’ famous long jump. A lengthy and detailed author’s note provides valuable historical context, including places where Gratz adapted the facts for storytelling purposes (although there’s no mention of the fact that before 1952, Olympic equestrian sports were limited to male military officers). With an emphasis on the plot, many of the characters feel defined primarily by how they’re suffering under the Nazis, such as the fictional diver Ursula Diop, who was involuntarily sterilized for being biracial.
Fast-paced and plot-driven. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781338736106
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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
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