May 13, 2025 by Christy Ottaviano Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
In this ultra creepy upper middle grade thriller, we meet several characters. There's Willow, a budding photographer who's using her late father's camera to take publicity photos of animals at the Finding Home shelter in a run down area of Portland, Oregon. She lives with her mother, who is still struggling with the after effects of having been in a car accident, and her new husband, plastic surgeon John. Dare is a new volunteer at the shelter who has to complete service hours after making some poor choices; these are revealed slowly as the story unfolds. We also meet Ryan, a very disturbed man in his thirties who works as a real estate agent and takes surreptitious pictures of young girls... which leads to even more disturbing actions. Dare isn't too thrilled about working at the shelter, but warms to Willow, and has some great ideas that help get many dogs adopted. He's working with a parole officer, and trying to make peace with the horrible things that he did, and the reasons why he did them. Willow is worried when she finds a camera memory card with thousands of picture of young girls on it. She talks to Dare, and the two take the card to the police station, but the police don't see at all worried. She talks to young women in the neighborhood, including Sapphire, who is unhoused, and gets a little bit of information about man who has been taking photographs in the neighborhood. We also follow Ryan as he stalks young women, lies to them, and accosts them with increasing evil. Things are increasingly difficult in Willow's life, with her mother getting worse and John getting more violent, and with the director of the shelter suffering from cancer at the same time that the building is needing repair and money is short. Willow decides to put up posters with some of the photos with her contact information on it, and she hears from several women, as well as a "reporter" for a local paper who wants to meet with her. Of course, this is a bad idea, and Willow finds herself in a lot of danger. Will Dare, who has become a romantic interest, be able to help her save herself?
Strengths: I don't want to give away too many of the twists and turns, but it should be mentioned that there is implied rape and murder in the book, but it's done so delicately that younger readers won't understand the sexual assault, although a line like "he left Zoey's bodied buried deep" is pretty easy to understand, if not overly gruesome or sensational. Both Dare and Willow's home situations give this an almost gritty feel, and makes them take a lot of comfort in each other. I loved the Finding Home shelter and was rooting for the dogs to be adopted and the news coverage and the GoFunMe efforts to help out. There's a happy ending, which was quite a relief after a very harrowing survival scene. I cannot stress enough that this is EXACTLY the kind of book that my students ask for again and again.
Weaknesses: Since I was able to understand exactly what was happening with Ryan, I was super creeped out by this, and I'm not a fan of murder/thriller books the way my students are. That said, this is exactly what my students ask for, and I appreciate how Henry carefully crafts her stories so that I can give them what they want.
What I really think: The waiting list for Henry's books is so long in my library that I've had to purchase additional copies of her titles, so I will order three of these right away. This is a level of creepy found in Strasser's Blood on My Hands or Wish You Were Dead, Sorrell's First Shot, or Tharp's Mojo.
Weaknesses: Since I was able to understand exactly what was happening with Ryan, I was super creeped out by this, and I'm not a fan of murder/thriller books the way my students are. That said, this is exactly what my students ask for, and I appreciate how Henry carefully crafts her stories so that I can give them what they want.
What I really think: The waiting list for Henry's books is so long in my library that I've had to purchase additional copies of her titles, so I will order three of these right away. This is a level of creepy found in Strasser's Blood on My Hands or Wish You Were Dead, Sorrell's First Shot, or Tharp's Mojo.
May 13, 2025 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Teddy is back, and this time he is trying to help neighbors who have a deer urine production facility, and are having thousands of dollars worth of product stolen! His skills wrap up that mystery fairly quickly (teaching us a lot about deer urine in the process!), and he is soon looking for a lost elephant. A big game facility has elephants that get loose and end up at a high school football game, and one of them, Tanzy, goes missing. How do you loose an animal that big? Teddy really wants to help out, but there's also a mystery closer to home that demands his attention. His friend Xavier is accused of vandalizing a bulldozer that has recently destroyed a natural habitat where he hunks for reptiles. J.J. McCracken is behind some of the building, but Summer doesn't want to think her father is building mindlessly. Teddy is worried that harm will come to Tanzy, and figures that Xavier's case will wait. It's a hot summer in Texas, and Teddy is very busy. Will he be able to save the day multiple times?
As always, Gibbs includes information about climate change, and how it affects animals. It's always good when we get a look at the area outside Fun Jungle and get to meet some interesting new characters. I wouldn't be averse to having the next mystery back in the theme park.
As always, Gibbs includes information about climate change, and how it affects animals. It's always good when we get a look at the area outside Fun Jungle and get to meet some interesting new characters. I wouldn't be averse to having the next mystery back in the theme park.
Pandamonium (#4)
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