THE BEAST AND THE BETHANY, by Jack Meggitt-Phillips, illustrated by Isabelle Follath, is the strange and snarky story of 511-year-old Ebenezer Tweezer, a “terrible man with a wonderful life.” Ebenezer needs to keep the beast in the attic fed, and, in exchange, the beast vomits up a potion that keeps Ebenezer alive. Ebenezer doesn’t have much of a conscience, procuring all manner of delicacies for the greedy beast—until the he’s asked to bring home a “juicy, plump little child” who turns out to be a bit less horrid than she first seems. This surprisingly endearing tale is reminiscent of Lemony Snickett and, like Bethany, should grow on readers. (MG)
THE GREAT SHELBY HOLMES and THE GREAT SHELBY HOLMES MEETS HER MATCH, by Elizabeth Eulberg, feature nine-year-old detective Shelby Holmes and her new neighbor and friend, eleven-year-old John Watson, who both live at 221 Baker Street in Harlem. Watson narrates as the pair get involved in tracking down a missing dog in the first book, and in the second they investigate a teacher at the Harlem Academy of the Arts who’s “acting weird. Really, really weird.” Both books are good, puzzling fun and there’s a third, THE GREAT SHELBY HOLMES AND THE COLDEST CASE, which I haven’t gotten to yet. (MG)
A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE, by Brittany Cavallaro, is a more mature twist on the Holmes stories than the Shelby Holmes middle grade described above. In the first of this four book series, when Jamie Watson gets a rugby scholarship to a small college in Connecticut, he meets Charlotte Holmes, who’s Sherlock’s great-great-great-grandaughter. and “the epitome of a Holmes.” She’s brilliant and moody and troubled. Charlotte and Watson become practically inseparable when a classmate is murdered in a scenario reminiscent of one of the cases their forebears investigated, and it seems they’re being framed for this new crime. It’s witty and wry and touching, with plenty of suspense. (YA)
Picture Books:
WISHES, by Muon Thi Van, illustrated by Victo Ngai, is a gentle, poignant account of the journey one Asian child and her family must take in leaving their home, told through the wishes of familiar objects. As the grandfather digs up a buried case, “the night wished it was quieter.” Three women in the kitchen pack food in a bag that “wished it was deeper.” When they wake younger siblings, “the dream wished it was longer.” Subdued illustrations give way to the brighter hues of a new tomorrow. It’s a stunning, deeply affecting work.
On the other hand, IT’S SO QUIET: A NOT-QUITE-GOING-TO-BED BOOK, written by Sherry Dusky Rinker and illustrated by Tony Fucile, is a silly, rhyming story about one “very sleepless mouse” who thinks it’s too quiet. His mama suggests he listen to the “small sweet sounds of nighttime.” But instead of whispering him to sleep, they get louder and louder. Snort! Bloop-bloop-bloop! A-whoooo! What a great read aloud!
SATO AND THE RABBIT, by Yuki Ainoya, is the strange and wonderful story of Haneru Sato, who one day “became a rabbit.” A series of short, sweet chapters describe how Sato the Rabbit waters his plants (a small pond blows water into Sato’s hose), does laundry (he sets sail with the perfect gust of wind), lights the night with a meteor shower, floats on a giant watermelon in the sea, finds a luminous puddle that’s a window to the sky, finds the world in a walnut and the taste of colors in forest ice. Don’t miss “sipping” these whimsical stories with Sato, “late into the night.”
--Lynn
No comments:
Post a Comment