Review_CHILDREN’S
64 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ MARCH 9, 2020
Review_CHILDREN’S
placed clues and red herrings, while sub-
plots, such as the arrival of an ominous new
megastore, lend depth to the lighthearted
mystery. With the hint of more to come,
the One and Onlys seem primed to
become a popular trio among readers
who enjoy an old-fashioned whodunit.
Ages 8–12. Agent: Penelope Burns, Gelfman
Schneider/ICM Partners. (Apr.)★ The Water Bears
Kim Baker. Random/Lamb, $16.99 (272p)
ISBN 978-1-9848-5220-5
Ever since surviving a bear attack that
scarred his leg, Mexican-American Newt
Gomez, 13, has considered leaving tiny
Murphy Island, a resort turned artist
community, in hopes that moving to the
mainland to stay with his extended family
will alleviate his nightmares and give him
a fresh start. A carved wooden bear that
seems to grant wishes poses an opportunity
to change his life, yet Newt is reluctant to
believe in magic,
despite his best
friend’s urgings.
Instead, Newt
gets wrapped
up in other
matters—pre-
paring for the
upcoming talent
show; exploring
the island with
his new friend,
Izzy; and driving the decommissioned
taco truck his well-meaning parents gave
him instead of a bike. But when the bear
vanishes, Newt wonders if he’s lost his
chance at happiness. In a deliberately
paced novel with a meandering story
line, Baker (Pickle) contrasts Newt’s
everyday life and quiet desperation with
his unusual surroundings and quirky
neighbors. The ambiguity of the magical
elements—such as the island’s resident
lake monster, Marvelo, and the wish-
granting bear—reflect Newt’s emotional
uncertainty as he faces his traumas in this
subtle, satisfying read. Ages 8–12. Agent:
Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. (Apr.)The Stone of Sorrow
(Runecaster #1)
Brooke Carter. Orca, $14.95 paper (312p)
ISBN 978-1-4598-2439-3
In this fantasy series opener by Carterdedicated to instructing emerging, dys-
lexic, and English-language learner readers,
this primer should appeal to phonics
stalwarts and phonics learners. Sisters
Elspeth, a literary specialist, and Rowena,
a former biologist, make their debut with
a set of four elementary tales for kids to
encounter with a more experienced reader.
Each story, written in several short chap-
ters, introduces the concept for advanced
readers (“ck... comes immediately after a
short vowel”), notes phonograms at play
(“A Duck in a Sock: A Story Featuring
ck”), and bolds words employing the sound
for easy recognition (jacket, stick). Between
tales, word games (“ck match-up”)
emphasize the previous story’s takeaways.
In the titular tale, Meg and Greg rescue
an injured duckling from a stray dog, and
“tuck the duck up in a sock” to visit the
vet; the others imperil a slew of characters,
each delivering tense moments before
Meg and Greg save the day. Gutiérrez
(Letter Lunch) creates orderly double
spreads with illustrated prose on the verso
and comics-style panels on the recto; her
art, drawn in a heavy ink line, helps
readers focus on labeled objects and voice-
balloon content. Ages 6–9. (Apr.)Finally, Something Mysterious
Doug Cornett. Knopf, $16.99 (256p) ISBN 978-
1-9848-3003-6
Paul Marconi, 11, loves to solve mys-
teries with his best friends, Shanks and
Peephole, aka the “One and Onlys.” All
only children, they are the perfect team of
sleuths: level-headed Paul “sniffed out the
mysteries,” fearless Shanks takes risks, and
anxious Peephole’s photographic memory
documents crime scenes. Their sleepy
community is preparing for its annual
bratwurst cook-off, despite a wildfire
burning beyond the town. When hundreds
of rubber duckies mysteriously appear on
the front lawn of Mr. Babbage, five-time
bratwurst champion, the One and Onlys
want to know who put them there. But
Officer Portnoy won’t let them near the
evidence, Peephole is worried about the
imminent birth of a sibling, and the whole
town is preoccupied with the competition.
Cornett caters nicely to his audience with
amusing scenes—one suspect serenades
the duckies with a tuba—and caricature,
as with Portnoy, a classically clueless cop.
The mystery slowly unspools with well-with Madame
Badobedah at
the helm). Soon
Mabel feels that
she can share the
Mermaid Hotel’s
best secret with
her. Dahl’s yarn
unspools with
impressive
assurance as two
strong female characters grapple with each
other, and both emerge victorious. Ages
5–8. (Apr.)Taking Time
Jo Loring-Fisher. Lantana, $17.99 (32p)
ISBN 978-1-911373-08-7
The phrase “taking time to” begins
each line of this book’s rhyming verse, a
gentle reminder to stop and appreciate
the natural world. Digital spreads by
Loring-Fisher (Maisie’s Scrapbook) place
children of varied cultural and ethnic
backgrounds among misty planes of texture
and pattern. An orange and black bird
perches in a tree, its beak open. “Taking
time to listen to/ a bird’s song on the
breeze,” the poet writes, as a girl with
brown skin and a long black braid looks
up, the basket in her hand forgotten.
Another child stands under a cherry tree
whose petals fall like snow: “Taking
time to gather up the blossom dancing
free.” Still another stands with a seashell
to their ear, “Taking time to imagine/
the deep sounds of the sea”; brightly
clad figures wielding nets stand in the
ocean beyond. Sources of light vary, too: a
campfire, leaf-filtered sunlight, a curtain-
framed window. Round-the-world books
sometimes assume that a location in the
English-speaking world is “home”; this
one unites the children in a schoolyard
that could be almost anywhere, and a
world map identifies each child’s place of
origin. Ages 5–8. (Apr.)Fiction
A Duck in a Sock
(Meg and Greg #1)
Elspeth Rae and Rowena Rae, illus. by Elisa
Gutiérrez. Orca, $14.95 paper (168p)
ISBN 978-1-4598-2490-4
First in the Orca Two-Read line of books,continued from. 58