The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit by Octavia SpencerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Randi Rhodes is exactly the girl detective I wanted to be growing up - I tore through Nancy Drew, Harriet the Spy, and other similar books in elementary school. Randi is tough and headstrong, but she has heart too. The tension of moving away from Brooklyn is compounded by the mystery of the time capsule, and there’s no break from the action as Randi meets D.C. and they team up to solve the mystery. Of course, as an adult, I wondered about the believability of some of their adventures, but nothing strayed too far from reality, and most kids will be too focused on trying to solve the mystery along with the protagonists to care about small details. I finished this book in an afternoon at the airport and felt fully immersed in the story!
What a fun read! I loved that it was bilingual, and that the translations matched up so well. The direct, simple language made it easy for even this beginning Spanish reader to compare the pages. The actual story was also fun, and I enjoyed solving the mystery along with Max, cheering for heroes and booing the villains all along. Max develops slightly as a character, becoming more confident in himself and the action was paced nicely. I’ll definitely be recommending this book!
This book gave me major Willy Wonka vibes, as Grabenstein intended, which had me guessing the whole way through - How will kids start being eliminated? What’s Lemoncello’s actual intent? Where are the Oompa Loompas? A fun ode to libraries with plenty of solvable puzzles, this bookworm was happy to read Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library all afternoon. I was invested and curious the whole way through!
I enjoyed reading Hatchet in elementary school. Growing up in north/central Wisconsin, winter survival was a popular topic and kids would build elaborate forts during recess as if we’d be out there longer than 20 minutes. We read Hatchet in class, and I remember both boys and girls getting into the story. When I tried to read more Gary Paulsen on my own though, I wasn’t as interested, and I definitely wasn’t as into the action this read through. Yes, Brian goes through a “coming of age” in the wilderness, learning about himself and the world around him, but I wasn’t as into the action as I remember being as a 10 year old. I think the plot was interesting, especially considering the age of this book, and most kids reading are able to guess at what Brian needs to do next, or at least think about what they would do in his situation.
This was an interesting book to read one week after a trip to Japan. Preus did her research, though some details of the book felt forced (ie, “I did my research on this can’t you tell?!”). Manjiro’s adventure moves right along, and he grows and changes as he experiences new things. I felt invested in his story, wanting to know if he made it back home, and what happened if/when he did. There were a few problematic bits, details that were glossed over (though explained more in the epilogue/glossary), but nothing that a child reader would care much about, or need to appreciate the story. Preus is clear about the things she created for the story, and the inclusion of Majiro’s drawings adds context.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book, which I hesitate to recommend - the added music was a nice touch, but the actual narration left something to be desired. Also, I personally am not a great audiobook listener so I know I missed some things. I want to reread this in print to get the “full” story because I’m pretty sure I liked it. I know I liked each individual story, learning about the characters and their motivations. I didn’t read anything about the book before listening, so it took me a bit to realize Echo is 4 different/connected stories. The connections at the end were sweet, if convenient.
Besides the unnecessary gendering of this collection, I found the stories inside to be fun and interesting. As in any book of short stories, some resonated more than others, but altogether I found they worked well at keeping my attention with good pacing and just enough tension throughout. I felt involved in reading most of the stories, especially “Believing in Brooklyn” and “Nate Macavoy, Monster Hunter” (which felt like a Junior X-Files). Snakes aren’t my jam, so I checked out while reading “The Snake Mafia” and “Boys Will Be Boys” felt too simplistic (and that title, ugh).
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