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The Odds of Getting Even. Sheila Turnage. 2015. 352 pages. [Source: Library]
I definitely am a fan of the Tupelo Landing middle grade mystery series by Sheila Turnage. It isn't so much the plots that I love, love, love. At best, I really like them. At worst, I just "like" them. Instead, it is the characters, the narration, the dialogue, the setting that I love, love, love. Turnage has created a whole community for readers to connect with, to love. And it is the whole community--carried over from book to book to book--that has me hooked on the series.
Mo Lobeau (the heroine) has a detective agency with two of her good friends, Dale, and Harm. They've solved a case (or two) in each book. And their work has consequences, as, readers learn in this one. The book seems to be more about the aftermath of previous cases in a way. But they are definitely ACTIVE in this book. Crimes are plentiful in town. And these sixth graders are just as active as the police detective in trying to solve them...
Would recommend the series. But be sure to read in order! This one, I think, wouldn't do as a stand-alone.
© 2016 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
By:
Becky Laney,
on 5/29/2015
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The Egypt Game. Zilpha Keatley Snyder. 1967/2009. Simon & Schuster. 215 pages. [Source: Review copy]
Not long ago in a large university town in California, on a street called Orchard Avenue, a strange old man ran a dusty shabby store. Above the dirty show windows a faded peeling sign said: A-Z Antiques Curios Used Merchandise. Part of me wishes I'd read The Egypt Game years ago. I loved, loved, LOVED it. Though part of me still loves the fact that there are still WOW books waiting for me to 'discover' them. I do love being swept away by a great book.
The Egypt Game celebrates friendship and imagination. The Egypt Game was invented by Melanie Ross and April Hall. Soon after they meet--very soon--they discover they are kindred spirits. Both have big imaginations, love storytelling, and have a fascination with Ancient Egypt. The Egypt Game is played in an abandoned lot near their neighborhood. They sneak in through a gap in the fence, I believe. Melanie's younger brother--much younger brother, Marshall--is part of the fun as well. He's four, and, he almost always, always brings his octopus, Security. By the end of the book, there are SIX "Egyptians" playing the Egypt game...
I do love the storytelling and imaginative play. How creative they all are in coming up with ideas for what to act out or play next. But I also love how they build a world and fill it with stuff, with costumes as well. But I also love the mystery element to the novel.
I would definitely recommend this one. I came to love all the characters. And there was a scene that just got to me--it reminded me so much of To Kill A Mockingbird. Anyway, I loved this one, and you may too. If you've read it, I'd love to know what you think of it!
© 2015 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
Wild Boy. Rob Lloyd-Jones. 2013. Candlewick Press. 295 pages. [Source: Review copy]
PrologueSouthwark, London, May 1838That night, the night the showman came, the moon was the color of mud.Do you love historical mysteries? compelling historical mysteries set in Victorian London?! Wild Boy is definitely one I'd recommend.
This murder-mystery stars two unlikely friends: the Wild Boy, a sideshow "freak," and Clarissa, a young acrobat and the daughter of the circus ringmaster. These two enemies--Wild Boy doesn't really have many friends--are pushed together under some strange circumstances. Wild Boy agrees, for better or worse, to help Clarissa find a rich person to pickpocket. What they pocket isn't money, but, a mysterious note warning someone--but WHO--that his (or her) life is in great danger. Wild Boy, who knows it is oh-so-risky to leave his sideshow "home," decides to brave it. He'll go in search of the would-be recipient. Surely he can figure out who the note was meant for before it's too late...
He does manage to find out WHO, and just in time to witness the crime--the murder. But the murderer was wearing a mask, and, I believe a cape as well. There are a handful of clues for him to work with, however. If he gets the chance. For Wild Boy, within minutes of the crime, becomes the prime suspect. He's an animal, after all, right?!
For Wild Boy to live long enough to solve the mystery, he'll need a little help from others...
I really LOVED Wild Boy. I loved Wild Boy himself. I loved the narrative. He had me hooked from the start. I also loved Clarissa. I thought the way these two were brought together was great. The atmosphere of this one--the setting, the description, the detail--it all worked quite well.
Have you read Wild Boy? What did you think of it?
© 2015 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
By:
Elizabeth Varadan,
on 4/20/2015
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| Author extraordinaire . . . |
I became acquainted with Caroline Stellings through a review I wrote of her book,
The Manager, an engrossing tale about boxing with quirky, captivating characters. You can read the review at
The Children's Book Review HERE . The Children's Book Review is an award winning, online, book review site endorsed last year by the Association for Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association.
The Manager, published by Cape Breton University Press in 2013, is a young adult novel that won the Hamilton Literary Award for Fiction. Carolyn Stellings' middle-grade novel
The Contest (published in the USA by Seventh Generation) won the ForeWord Book of the Year gold medal in 2010. Her
teen mystery, The Scratch on the Ming Vase -- which I'm reading right now and loving -- was published by Second Story Press and was included in the Canadian Children's Book CenCentre's 2013 Spring edition of Best Books for Kids and Teens . She also writes and illustrates picture books.
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| Humor and boxing . . . |
 |
Anne of Green Gables,
look out! |
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First in an exciting mystery
series . . . |
It’s my pleasure to have this award-winning author as my interview guest today. I’ll get right to it:
EV: Have you always been interested in writing? When did you first get into it seriously?
CS: Well, it was nearly 20 years ago, and I was in a PhD program at McMaster University, but stumbled upon a book about the life of the famous illustrator from Vermont, Tasha Tudor. She, of course, has done numerous stories about her corgies, and I decided then and there to quit the academics and write books about my dogs, which have always been Schipperkes. These are little black sailing dogs from Belgium, and very smart. First, though, I had to learn how to do watercolors.
EV: You write both YA fiction and picture books. Do you favor one of them over the other, or do you enjoy them equally?
CS: I love the picture books because they feature animal characters, not only my Schipperkes, but I have also done a series of mice books, and recently, my book about a fortune-telling cat, Gypsy’s Fortune (published by Peanut Butter Press) was chosen as a Best Bet in Canada, one of the top ten picture books of the year. I think everyone liked the traditional fortune cookie sayings! Novels are more difficult, but I have enjoyed doing a mystery series because I am a big fan of Nancy Drew.
EV: Do you approach the two genres differently? If so, what are some special challenges of each?
CS: The biggest challenge with the picture books, for me, is the art. I was not lucky enough to be born with artistic talent; in fact, it took me years to learn to paint. With the novels, the challenges come at that stage when the publisher assigns an editor. She then goes over the book piece by piece, and there is a lot of re-writing to do. With The Secret of the Golden Flower, the second book in my Nicki Haddon mystery series, my wonderful editor really worked hard to get it right. Nicki,the main character, is a female Chinese James Bond, and anytime a book has a number of clues, etc. the editing can take almost as much time as writing the book in the first place.
EV: Do you have any favorites among the books you’ve written?
CS: My two Skippers books, Skippers at Cape Spear and Skippers Save the Stone because they are about my dogs.
EV: Can you describe your writing process? Do you plot ahead of time? Become haunted by a theme or idea? Start with a character and then see where that leads?
CS: It usually takes me a few months to decide on my next project. Those are the months when my house is the cleanest, because I find it easier to wash floors than face the blank page. Once an idea hits, then my house isn’t so clean, because I can’t tear myself away from the computer.
I always seem to know what my ending will be, and then I sketch out a basic plot, and a few sentences for each chapter. This inevitably changes, of course, once the characters start developing minds of their own and bossing me around.
Sometimes, a book requires research. With The Manager I had to learn about boxing. Even though the book is a comedy, and boxing is just in the background, I still had to know it, right down to the last jab.
EV: The research really showed. I felt the world of boxing come alive when I read it. What was your inspiration for The Manager?
CS: One hot summer night, when I couldn’t sleep, I watched a movie called The Station Agentstarring Peter Dinklage, an achondroplastic dwarf, and a fantastic actor. I fell in love with him, and decided I had to write a YA novel with a dwarf character. I wound up with a female lead, but never stopped thinking about that film. Nothing much happens in that film, but thanks to the superb actors, it haunts you for a long time.
EV: What were some of your favorite books while growing up?
CS; The Wind in the Willows was my favorite illustrated book, and then Nancy Drew when I was a bit older. Later, of course, it was Tasha Tudor’s books, and Corgiville Fairis a masterpiece.
EV: What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?
CS: I keep this piece of advice on a sticky note on the front of my computer at all times: SOMEONE MUST WANT SOMETHING ON EVERY PAGE.
EV: Do you have any advice for beginning writers?
CS: 1.) Don’t invent a book, experience a book and then write it. 2.) Don’t tell the reader anything; make the reader feel everything instead.
EV: What are you working on now, or can you say?
CS: I am starting a western, set in 1857 Utah Territory. Because I must learn the time period, speech, clothing, etc. I am taking longer than usual with the preparatory stages, but enjoying it. And I hope to begin editing a novel I have written about Janis Joplin called Saskatoon Blues. She came to Canada just before she died in 1970 to ride the Festival Express, and when the musicians aboard the train ran out of liquor, they made an unscheduled stop in Saskatchewan. That is where my story begins! There‘s only one problem with writing about Janis Joplin – she steals every scene she is in!
EV: Ah . . . Janis Joplin. I can believe she would. When oldies-but-goodies come on my car's radio, she outshines all the other singers the DJ plays.
Caroline. It’s been such a pleasure to learn more about you and your work. Thank you for sharing all this.
Thank you so much, Elizabeth!
EV: Readers can find more about Caroline Stellings and her books at:
By:
Becky Laney,
on 3/24/2015
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Space Case. Stuart Gibbs. 2014. Simon & Schuster. 352 pages. [Source: Review copy]
Dashiell Gibson lives on the moon with his family. The community on the moon is small--super small. And there are only a handful of kids in the community (Moon Base Alpha). That being just one of a hundred reasons why Dash absolutely hates his life. By the end of the book, readers could list dozens of reasons. The top two would probably be the HORRIBLE food and the HORRIBLE bathroom facilities. Going to the bathroom in space--on the moon--is a nightmare. And eating horrible tasting food that makes you have to go urgently is the WORST. Dash finds himself in a situation in the first chapter putting him in just the right place to overhear something he had no business hearing. Dr. Holtz was also in the bathroom in the wee morning hours. He was talking to someone about a life-changing DRAMATIC revelation. Our hero doesn't hear the details of Holtz's discovery, just the fact that this HUGE announcement will be made at breakfast. But hours before breakfast, Holtz has an accident. Or "accident" as the case may be. Dashiell believes that Dr. Holtz was murdered...but it won't be easy to convince the adults to investigate. Can Dash and his new friend help solve the case?!
Space Case is a middle grade mystery that I definitely enjoyed. I'm not sure I loved it exactly. But I love the idea of loving it. It's one of those potentially satisfying mysteries for younger readers. There are plenty of suspects and plenty of clues. For better or worse, the plot was a bit more developed than the characters. Plenty happens in this one. And it's a very quick read. But the characterization is light, in my opinion.
Space Case is the kind of book I enjoy reading once, but, maybe not one I see myself rereading again and again.
© 2015 Becky Laney of
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By:
Becky Laney,
on 3/14/2015
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The Case of the Vanishing Emerald (Maisie Hitchins #2) Holly Webb. 2013/2015. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 176 pages. [Source: Review copy]
I enjoyed reading The Case of the Vanishing Emerald, the second book in the Maisie Hitchins mystery series for very young readers. Both books are set in Victorian London. Maisie, the protagonist, is a girl who really wants to be a detective, and she doesn't want to have to wait until she grows up. The second case she solves is, in my opinion, a much more interesting case: an actress has had a necklace stolen from her dressing room. Maisie is hired to assist her in dressing and everyone is hoping that she will find the necklace and the person who took it. In my review of the first book, I said the book was light on history and light on mystery, and, I suppose that can still be said. But I found the book to be very charming and just a treat to read.
The first book in the series was The Case of The Stolen Sixpence.
© 2015 Becky Laney of
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By:
Becky Laney,
on 3/3/2015
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The Case of the Cursed Dodo: A Jungle Noir (Endangered Files #1) Jake G. Panda. 2014. Wooly Family Studios. 180 pages. [Source: Review copy]
More jungle noir, please! More, more, more! So yes, it's safe to assume that I loved "watching" Jake G. Panda in The Case of the Cursed Dodo. The book is written in movie/script format. Which could just have easily failed as succeeded, but, in this case worked quite well.
What did I love about The Case of the Cursed Dodo? Well, I loved, loved, loved the writing. More specifically the descriptions. Practically perfect in every way. I'll just share a few favorite bits:
That's Gloria. A dizzy grizzly who runs the front desk of this bunkhouse. She's a one of kind dame.
"Thanks, Gloria," Jake says, taking the letters. She gives him a big wink.
"Anytime, Honey."
I wish she wouldn't call me that. It makes me feel all sticky. Besides, if there's one thing I ain't, it's sweet. (13)
and
Ernie's the hotel driver. A thick-skinned pachyderm with a chip on his shoulder. He lost his tusks in a hunting accident. And he's not the kinda guy to quickly forget. But I had a soft spot for the big fella. He had a lead foot and worked for peanuts. (21)
So the premise if you haven't guessed it is that the hero is a detective. Jake G. Panda is "in the protection racket. I'm the Last Resort's house dick. The hotel snoop. The resident fuzz. It's my job to keep the guests safe and outta harm's way" (9). The first case involves a missing hare (Professor Harry), a mysterious long-buried suitcase, and a 'cursed dodo.' Plenty of action and humor. Just a treat to read.
© 2015 Becky Laney of
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By:
Becky Laney,
on 1/17/2015
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Big Bad Detective Agency. Bruce Hale. 2015. Scholastic. 128 pages. [Source: Review copy]
Once upon a time in Fairylandia, when magic was common and cheese was two shillings a pound, there lived a wolf named Wolfgang. Being a wolf, he was widely adored, called "cute" and "cuddly," and invited to all the best parties. Not. What makes you think Fairylandia is so different from anyplace else?Premise/Plot: Wolfgang, the hero, is falsely accused of a crime. Of breaking into the homes of all three little pigs, of destroying property, of stealing. He didn't do it. And there isn't exactly any evidence that he did it. Except for the fact that he's a wolf, and everyone in the community can get away with blaming him whenever something goes a bit wrong. "The wolf did it!" is such a handy thing to be able to say. He's been given a chance to clear his name, however. He'll have one day to find another suspect, to find proof that someone else did the crime. He teams up, reluctantly, with the fourth little pig: Ferkel. Can these two unlikely amateur detectives solve the crime? Will Wolfgang prove his innocence and avoid being locked up?
My thoughts: I liked this one very much. It was fun and playful. The premise was just too much fun to resist. I liked the detecting in this one, loved getting all the clues, watching the team piece it all together.
© 2015 Becky Laney of
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Ghosts of Tupelo Landing. Sheila Turnage. 2014. Penguin. 368 pages. [Source: Library]
I enjoyed reading The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing. I am not sure I loved, loved, loved it as much as the first book, Three Times Lucky. But I'm not sure that matters. What I loved most about the first book is still present in the second.
Primarily what I love about both books is the narration by Miss Moses LoBeau (Mo). I love, love, love her voice, her narration. She's a wonderful character. I love seeing things through her eyes. I love getting to spend time in her community, getting to spend time with her own, unique family, getting to spend time with her friends. This is a book that is just oh-so-easy to enjoy. The writing just has an oh-so-right feel to it.
Mo and her best friend, Dale, have a challenge or two to face in this mystery. Miss Lana has just bought--impulsively bought--an old inn that is haunted. When she bid at the auction, she had no idea that it was haunted. (Not that Miss Lana believes in ghosts.) But Mo and Dale in their exploring before and after, know that it is in fact haunted. And, I believe, it is Dale that impulsively signs him and Mo up to interview the ghost for a history assignment. Regardless if it was Mo or Dale following an impulsive, this quick and hasty decision proves challenging from start to finish. How can they prove the ghost is real? Especially since they don't see it or feel it every time they visit the inn? And even if they happen to capture the ghost in a photo, how are they going to ask interview questions and record the answers?!
Ghosts of Tupelo Landing is a mystery novel. There is a mystery--from the past--to be solved from the community's past.
What I liked best about this one is the characterization, the setting, the writing itself. I also really liked meeting the new kid in town, Harm Crenshaw. I wasn't thrilled with the actual mystery in this one. The ghost story itself.
© 2014 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
The Case of the Stolen Sixpence. Holly Webb. Illustrated by Marion Lindsay. 2014. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 176 pages. [Source: Review copy]
I liked The Case of the Stolen Sixpence. It is a light historical mystery set in Victorian London. It is light on history and light on mystery. But light isn't necessarily a bad thing. This is an often charming book for young readers.
Maisie Hitchins is the protagonist. Perhaps she is supposed to be helping her grandmother run the boardinghouse. Perhaps she is supposed to be focused on helping with chores and running errands and keeping guests happy. But Maisie sees the world differently. She sees herself as a detective, a young detective perhaps, but one with great potential. She wants REAL cases, HARD cases. But the cases that come her way right now come from her own curiosity. For example, she finds a puppy in a wet sack, she wants to know WHO tried to drown the puppy? (And can she keep him PLEASE!!!!) She hears that the delivery boy has lost his job at the butcher's shop, she wants to know WHY did he lose his job? (And can he have it back PLEASE!!!!) Maisy is certainly likable and there are plenty of cute, charming scenes. The mysteries may be "light" cases, but, they matter very much to Maisy.
© 2014 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
Platypus Police Squad: The Ostrich Conspiracy. Jarrett J. Krosoczka. 2014. HarperCollins. 240 pages. [Source: Library]
I still like the premise of this mystery-detective series. But I think I liked
the first book more than the second. Or else I was just really in the right mood to love the novelty of it, the humor of it. Mood does play a significant part sometimes. That being said, I did like this one. I liked our platypus heroes. I liked Zengo and his partner O'Malley. The book opens with a crime or potential crime. Something goes horribly wrong on the opening night of the new indoor/outdoor amusement park. As horribly wrong as you'd expect a juvenile mystery to get perhaps. Someone tampered with the power, people were stuck on rides for hours, the fireworks went off early and before the roof could be opened up, and the fireworks caused some fires. So not a great opening day but certainly memorable for all the wrong reasons. Zengo and O'Malley decide to take the case and see if it was all deliberate. They have a feeling it was, but, no proof at the beginning. They have strong feelings about some of the people--or should that be ANIMALS--involved. But they have to look for evidence and proof to build a case. Some characters readers met in the first book, but, plenty are new to the second book.
I liked this one. There are a handful of action sequences in it. Those who are looking for ACTION may like it more than the first one.
© 2014 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
