Review of “Shouldn’t You Be in School?” by Lemony Snicket

Children's Fiction Review, Mystery, Starred Review 0

shouldnt_you_be_in_school_large“Shouldn’t You Be in School?”

All the Wrong Questions, Book 3

by Lemony Snicket

art by Seth

Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2014. 325 pages.
Starred Review

I wish I could have listened to this book, like I did the first two “Wrong Questions.” The narrator reads them with the perfect crime noir voice. However, reading the book has the advantage that I could enjoy the illustrations and that now I can quote bits.

This book is wonderfully clever. The plotting is complex, and you definitely should read the first two books first. In fact, I may have missed some crucial information by not yet reading File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents. Though this book says it is number 3, so I probably was just forgetting some details, because it had been awhile since I listened to the first two books.

“Shouldn’t You Be in School?” is a question that 13-year-old Lemony Snicket gets asked several times in this book, as he continues to investigate suspicious incidents in the town of Stain’d-by-the-Sea. Right from the beginning, there are instances of arson and evidence of a further plot by Hangfire. And several people in the town seem to be aiding Hangfire. Whom can young Snicket trust?

The author’s tone is delightful. I love the way he defines words and then they come up over and over again. In this book, the term “fragmentary plot” comes up over and over again, as he assembles a team of schoolchildren to help him, and each one has a part in the plan.

All the books begin similarly, and this is where I imagine Liam Aiken’s voice reading to me:

There was a town, and there was a librarian, and there was a fire. While I was in town I was hired to investigate this fire, and I thought the librarian could help me bring a villain to justice. I was almost thirteen and I was wrong. I was wrong about all of it. I should have asked the question “Why would someone destroy one building when they really wanted to destroy another?” Instead, I asked the wrong questions — four wrong questions, more or less. This is the account of the third.

We learn more bits about Lemony Snicket’s background in this book, and he works on thwarting one part of Hangfire’s plot. He gains some excellent allies in this episode. But overall enlightenment about what’s going on? I’ll be waiting eagerly for the fourth book.

This day was no different. It was like all the other days during my time in Stain’d-by-the-Sea, where every person had a secret, and beneath all the secrets was a great, slippery mystery, like a creature lurking in the depths of the sea.

LemonySnicketLibrary.com
lb-kids.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/shouldnt_you_be_in_school.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy, by Robert Arthur

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Mystery, Old Favorites 0

whispering_mummy_largeAlfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators in

The Mystery of the Whispering Mummy

by Robert Arthur
illustrated by Harry Kane

Random House, New York, 1965. 185 pages.

In my rereading of childhood favorites, The Three Investigators series, I’m now on Book 3. The Whispering Mummy isn’t the greatest of the series. The plot seems quite far-fetched, going well into Scooby-Doo territory, with lots of seemingly supernatural occurrences that the reader is pretty sure are going to end up being someone’s evil plot.

Once again, there’s another ethnic group that’s treated essentially as a stereotype, this time a Libyan boy and his uncle. Once again, rival Skinny Norris has a small part to play, but actually I like his part in this book.

Jupiter uses the Ghost-to-Ghost Hookup, asking five friends to ask five friends about something, and thus blanketing the city. Even as a kid, I never believed in the Ghost-to-Ghost Hookup, because it doesn’t take into account that after awhile kids would run out of friends who hadn’t already been called. Kids don’t actually have a large number of social groups, and once most of the kids in their grade at their school are contacted, it doesn’t matter what you ask them to do, they wouldn’t be able to deliver.

But in this case, Skinny finds out about the question being asked and foils their plans. I didn’t mind that, since even though it’s maybe unrealistic the question would have actually gotten to Skinny, at least it shows that Jupiter’s “brilliant” plan doesn’t always work smoothly.

And overall? The book is still lots of fun. Three boys solving a mystery that baffles adults, including dangerous situations and mysterious phenomena and cool equipment (walkie-talkies!). Gleeps! If the plot wasn’t terribly believable, at least it was lots of fun.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/whispering_mummy.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book gotten by interlibrary loan via Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Whispering Skull, by Jonathan Stroud

Adventure, Alternate History, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Starred Review, Suspense 0

whispering_skull_largeThe Whispering Skull

Lockwood & Co., Book 2

by Jonathan Stroud

Disney Hyperion, Los Angeles, 2014. 435 pages.
Starred Review

I was so looking forward to this sequel to The Screaming Staircase, I preordered the book as soon as I heard its publication date. And I was not disappointed.

Jonathan Stroud is a genius for plotting. This book again intertwines many plot threads. We’re back with the 3-person (3-child) agency Lockwood & Co., in an alternate reality England where ghosts plague the populace. Lucy continues to narrate, and in this book she continues to hear from the skull-in-a-jar that George stole when he was working for the Fittes agency.

It is highly unusual for someone to be able to talk with a ghost. This is a Type Three ghost, and only one other Sensitive was ever able to do it. So this could bring Lucy and their agency fame and fortune. But is it worth it? The skull gives them information that almost gets them killed, and it sows doubts in Lucy’s mind about Lockwood and that door he asked them never to open.

Then there are, of course, the cases. The ones in this book are even more gruesome and frightening than the ones in the earlier book. Kids with an especially vivid imagination might want to stay away. Kids who like scary books, however, will be delighted. Mention that a ghost starts falling apart and forming ghost-rats that attack them. If they think they like the sound of reading about that, this is the book for them!

There’s also a rivalry with another agency – and a bet as to which one can solve the case first. There’s the usual fun banter between Lockwood and Lucy and George. (And George shines in this volume, I must say.)

But the meat of the book is the mystery. Who stole the Bone Glass, and what does it do? And can they get it back, yet stay alive?

This is yet another example of Jonathan Stroud’s superb writing. Even though I had my own copy, I checked out the library’s copy so I could read it on my lunch breaks. This is absorbing, clever, innovative, and completely delightful reading.

To give you the flavor, here’s a bit from a scene right at the start, where Lockwood & Co. get in a little over their heads:

“It’s getting close to the barrier,” I said.

“So’s mine.”

“It’s really horrible.”

“Well, mine’s lost both hands. Beat that.”

Lockwood sounded relaxed, but that was nothing new. Lockwood always sounds relaxed. Or almost always: that time we opened Mrs. Barrett’s tomb – he was definitely flustered then, though that was mainly due to the claw marks on his nice new coat. I stole a quick sidelong glance at him now. He was standing with his sword held ready: tall, slim, as nonchalant as ever, watching the slow approach of the second Visitor. The lantern light played on his thin, pale face, catching the elegant outline of his nose, and his flop of ruffled hair. He wore that slight half-smile he reserved for dangerous situations: the kind of smile that suggests complete command. His coat flapped slightly in the night breeze. As usual, just looking at him gave me confidence. I gripped my sword tightly and turned back to watch my ghost.

And found it right there beside the chains. Soundless, swift as thinking, it had darted in as soon as I’d looked away.

I swung the rapier up.

The mouth gaped, the sockets flared with greenish fire. With terrible speed, it flung itself forward. I screamed, jumped back. The ghost collided with the barrier a few inches from my face. A bang, a splash of ectoplasm. Burning flecks rained down on the muddy grass outside the circle. Now the pale figure was ten feet farther off, quivering and steaming.

There you have it: Plenty of adventure, danger from entities living and dead, swordplay, ghosts, mysteries and murders. This will appeal to many for its clever plotting, but is not for the faint of heart.

LockwoodandCo.com
jonathanstroud.com
DisneyBooks.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/whispering_skull.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on my own copy, preordered from Amazon.com.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Careful Use of Compliments, by Alexander McCall Smith

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Mystery 0

careful_use_of_compliments_largeThe Careful Use of Compliments

by Alexander McCall Smith
performed by Davina Porter

Recorded Books, 2007. 8 hours on 7 compact discs.

This is the fourth novel about Isabel Dalhousie by Alexander McCall Smith. I’m finding them much more enjoyable via audiobook. Isabel is a philosopher. She muses and thinks about everything that she comes across. In other words, the plots of these books are extremely slow moving. This is fine when you are in the car anyway, and delightful Scottish accents add to the fun.

You’ll be disappointed if you expect a traditional mystery from these books, but Isabel does slowly encounter a puzzle about a painting she’s thinking of buying. Also in the book she explores questions about motherhood, as she has a newborn son, and about her relationship with Jamie, so much younger than she is, and her relationship with her niece Kat. She’s being cut out of her job with the Review of Applied Ethics, and has to deal with the plotters responsible.

If you want an action-packed thriller, don’t pick up these books. But if you want to explore some musings about life and love with a deep thinker, and encounter some interesting situations at the same time, these books are a delight.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/careful_use_of_compliments.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot, by Robert Arthur

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Mystery, Old Favorites, Starred Review 0

stuttering_parrot_largeAlfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators in

The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot

by Robert Arthur

Random House, New York, 1964. 179 pages.
Starred Review

This is the second book in The Three Investigators series, but the fourth I’ve read in my current rereading spree. I remembered this as being my favorite, and on rereading it, I have to say that’s still true. The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot, more than most of the others, is a puzzle-mystery. There are seven cryptic clues leading step-by-step to treasure. The scenario may not be completely realistic, but it is definitely a lot of fun.

They’re also working out some of the themes of The Three Investigators. This is the book that introduces the Ghost-to-Ghost Hookup. They also discover a down side to traveling in a gold-plated Rolls Royce. It’s highly noticeable and easy to follow.

As in the other books, there’s physical danger to the boys. It seems there’s always at least one person who carries an ethnic stereotype. Maybe they were trying to include a wide variety of cultures in the books? The bully Skinny Norris makes a mercifully brief appearance.

Mostly, this is a chance for Jupiter Jones to display his powers of deduction as the reader puzzles along with the group all that follows when the boys try to find a missing parrot – that stutters.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/stuttering_parrot.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an interlibrary loan borrowed via Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Mystery of the Green Ghost, by Robert Arthur

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Mystery, Old Favorites 0

green_ghost_largeAlfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators in

The Mystery of the Green Ghost

by Robert Arthur

Random House, New York, 1965. 181 pages.

My co-worker and I got to talking about The Three Investigators series, which we both enjoyed as kids, and he ordered the first three via Interlibrary Loan. After he let me read the first one, I went ahead and ordered number four, The Mystery of the Green Ghost. However, it came in before numbers two and three, so I had to read them out of order.

But that really doesn’t matter. I think reading the first one first is good, but each adventure is basically self-contained.

And, no, it doesn’t hold up perfectly over the years. But they’re still full of adventure and highlight kids outsmarting adults. Now, this one is terribly politically incorrect, with lots of Chinese people who are treated quite stereotypically. We’ve got a kid who’s one quarter Chinese whose nickname is Chang, and who talks about his “honorable aunt.” There are still no girls in the book whatsoever.

But the adventure is good. And Jupiter’s deductions are quite plausible, but still very clever.

It begins when Bob and Pete hear piercing scream coming from a supposedly haunted house that’s about to be torn down. Then a group of men happen to be wandering by, and when they go inside, all of them see a green ghost, dressed in long flowing green robes. They’re sure he’s the ghost of Mathias Green, who died in the house long ago.

And the ghost is seen around town, even at the graveside of Mathias Green by the chief of police. And when they explore the house further, a skeleton of Mathias Green’s missing wife is discovered, wearing a string of valuable “ghost pearls.”

And then the trail leads up north to a vineyard in Verdant Valley. Pete and Bob are invited to the home of the woman who inherited the house, who has a nephew, Chang, the boys’ age. They’re ready for action when the pearls are stolen. Meanwhile, back in Rocky Beach, Jupiter is making deductions — which are crucial when Bob and Pete and Chang disappear.

It’s all fast-moving and action-packed. All three investigators contribute to solving the mystery. In this one, there’s not as much focus on their cool headquarters with its secret entrances, and they never even ride in their gold-plated Rolls-Royce. But what they do is solve a mystery with brains and action and working together (and okay, some luck of being in the right place at the right time) — a mystery that stumps adults.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/green_ghost.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an interlibrary loan borrowed via Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Kinsey and Me, by Sue Grafton

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Mystery 0

kinsey_and_me_largeKinsey and Me

Stories

by Sue Grafton
read by Judy Kaye

Penguin Audio, 2013. 7 hours and 30 minutes on 6 discs.

This audiobook includes nine short stories about Kinsey Milhone, Sue Grafton’s famous detective creation. Then in the second part, there are short stories about Sue Grafton herself, as a child with an alcoholic mother, and dealing with her mother’s death.

The Kinsey stories are brilliant, with the one exception of the last one which is simply a frame for the old one-twin-always-tells-the-truth-and-the-other-always-lies puzzle. But the rest of the stories are remarkably varied and entertaining, and all have a clever solution. They made very diverting listening as I drove to work. Each time I shut off the CD after the story finished, because I wanted to relish the story I’d just completed.

The “and Me” stories are still good and well-written, but the tone is much different. They are about Sue Grafton’s relationship with her alcoholic mother, written in the decade after her death. They are far darker in tone, and are very sad. So as you’re enjoying the detective stories, it’s kind of a downer to finish with these. I wonder if that problem would have been solved by putting the “and Me” stories first and then lightening the tone with some nice murder mysteries.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/kinsey_and_me.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of When Did You See Her Last? by Lemony Snicket

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense 0

“When Did You See Her Last?”

All the Wrong Questions, Book 2

by Lemony Snicket
read by Liam Aiken

Hachette Audio, 2013. 4.5 hours on 4 CDs.

“When Did You See Her Last?” is the second entry in the All the Wrong Questions series of crime noir for kids. Young Lemony Snicket continues to stay in Stain’d-by-the-Sea. He and his chaperone are asked to solve another mystery, and once again his chaperone is completely misled, but young Snicket follows a progression of clues and reveals answers.

These books should be read in order. A master villain is hanging about, the statue from the previous book makes an appearance, and we get more clues as to what is going on with Lemony Snicket’s sister, but no answers.

These make wonderful listening. You’ve got a gripping story with plenty to set you chuckling. This would be ideal for a family trip. Now I just hope the next installment is coming out soon!

LemonySnicketLibrary.com
HachetteAudio.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/when_did_you_see_her_last.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense 0

“Who Could That Be at This Hour?”

All the Wrong Questions, Book 1

by Lemony Snicket
read by Liam Aiken

Hachette Audio, 2012. 4 hours on 4 CDs.

I began listening to this new series by Lemony Snicket and was captivated. It’s got all of his clever humor without the sad plight of persecuted orphans that turned me off from A Series of Unfortunate Events.

We do have a 13-year-old kid – the young Lemony Snicket – setting off on his apprenticeship for a mysterious organization. His chaperone takes him to Stained-by-the-Sea, and they are told to return a mysterious statue to its rightful owner. However, Snicket quickly realizes the statue is already in the hands of its rightful owner. His chaperone doesn’t believe him, and they begin a crazy adventure.

The book is full of delightful, understated details. Stained-by-the-Sea, for example, is no longer by the sea, but there is a sinister forest of seaweed where sea used to be. The reader uses a wonderful matter-of-fact voice, eminently suitable for crime noir.

I love Lemony Snicket’s trademark, “which here means…”, always used in clever and funny ways. And the similes he uses are always bizarre, but apt. I wish I could give examples, but that’s a problem with an audiobook.

Lemony Snicket freely tells us that he was asking the wrong questions, and tells us what the right question would have been. But he doesn’t tell us what the answer would have been to the right question. That is only revealed with time.

Some pieces of the mystery are revealed in this book, but it’s definitely the beginning of something bigger. There are reportedly going to be four Wrong Questions. And I have already decided I’m going to be sure to listen to all of them.

LemonySnicketLibrary.com
HachetteAudio.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/who_could_that_be.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Secret of Terror Castle, by Robert Arthur

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Mystery, Old Favorites 0

Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators in

The Secret of Terror Castle

by Robert Arthur

Random House, New York, 1964. 179 pages.

This isn’t going to be a review so much as an appreciation.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with a co-worker about series mysteries. We both had read the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew, but I never read the Hardy Boys. I said that the really good series was The Three Investigators, and he said he agreed — he hadn’t brought them up because most people haven’t heard of them. So then we got to talking about Jupiter Jones and all the cool things about the Three Investigators. I said that my brother had all of them, but he didn’t let anyone else read them, so I had to borrow them from my friend Georgette.

Well, the library has recently gotten a new system for ordering Interlibrary Loans, and administration had asked staff to try it out by making some requests. So my co-worker decided to request the first three Three Investigators mysteries. Naturally, I asked if I could read them after him. When he said there might not be enough time in the loan, I said it would be funny if he behaved exactly like my brother. Anyway, when the first book did come in, he finished it well ahead of the due date, and I got to read it, too.

We’re both trying to figure out what it is about The Three Investigators that made them so completely cool. The writing is not stellar, though there is a nice habit of closing chapters on a cliff-hanger (or rock slide). But you’ve got to love a group of kids independently traveling around in a gold-plated Rolls-Royce (which Jupiter won the use of) with an English chauffeur. Jupiter is super smart and outsmarts adults routinely. Their headquarters is fantastic — an old mobile home hidden in a junkyard, completely surrounded by trash. The entrances are all secret, and involve things like crawling through a tunnel.

Yes, the books are dated. I laughed when the boys discovered the “mobile telephone” in the Rolls-Royce. “One pushes the button and gives the desired number to the operator.” They also make their own business cards by fixing an old printing press that came into the junk yard. And the book isn’t at all politically correct. Various ethnic groups are represented stereotypically. And there are no girls in the book whatsoever. (But it’s true, I loved the books anyway.)

I hadn’t remembered that Bob Andrews — at 13 or 14 years old — worked in a library. This paragraph on the very first page made me laugh aloud:

“How was the library?” [his mother] asked.

“It was okay,” Bob told her. After all, there was never any excitement at the library.

Later on, “Bob had been swamped with work at the library, re-cataloguing all the books. One other helper was out sick, so Bob had been working days and evenings too.” My goodness, such responsibility to give a kid!

I like some of the exclamations Pete comes up with: Gleeps! Whiskers! Golly!

I’m not crazy about Skinny Norris, the obligatory bully of the books. Solving mysteries wasn’t enough — there has to be a rival gang, taunting them.

But overall, this book holds up. You’ve got a spooky setting and clever kids, acting on their own, who get into danger and solve the mystery. Rereading it made me feel like I was twelve years old again.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/terror_castle.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book borrowed via Interlibrary Loan.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.