Reviews provided by Syndetics
Publishers Weekly Review
"Aunt Hortense says I try hard to be peculiar. But she's wrong; I come by it quite naturally," says Lizzie Kennedy, 13, who reluctantly attends a fussy finishing school in turn-of-the-20th-century San Francisco when she'd rather be making house calls with her father, a kindly doctor. (She and Jacqueline Kelly's Calpurnia Tate could've been BFFs if they had lived nearby.) When Lizzie overhears talk about a bubonic plague outbreak, her father and her uncle, a wealthy newspaper publisher, dismiss it as rumor. Within days, however, Chinatown is quarantined, trapping the Kennedys' beloved cook, Jing, and marooning his son, Noah, who he had secretly hidden in the Kennedy's servants' quarters. Ignoring the social mores that would prohibit Lizzie from befriending a boy her age, a servant's child, or a Chinese person, she finds Noah much better company than her snooty classmates. A powerful subplot involving Lizzie's older brother, Billy, shows that the controversy over immunization has long roots. Choldenko, who won a Newbery Honor for Al Capone Does My Shirts, delivers another engaging historical novel about a little-known event. Ages 9-12. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-At the turn of the 20th century in San Francisco, spunky 13-year-old Lizzie Kennedy is not at all enamored with the finishing school for girls she's forced to attend, but she thrives on accompanying her physician father to deliver babies or set bones. Family dynamics, gender expectations, lack of regard for servants, racism against the Chinese, politics, Hearst newspapers, and the bubonic plague all come into play as Lizzie uncovers secrets and helps the Chinese cook's son, Noah, deter a mob who threatens to burn down Chinatown. Karissa Vacker's smooth narration keeps this engaging novel moving. VERDICT This will be a treat for a wide variety of listeners. ["A fast-paced plot that will appeal to lovers of both mystery and historical fiction": SLJ 6/15 review of the Random Wendy Lamb book.]-Deb Whitbeck, formerly of West Ottawa Public Schools, Holland, MI © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Dead rats, hushed rumors of plague, and cryptic talk of a monkey are at the forefront of 13-year-old Lizzie's mind as she schemes to rescue the family cook, Jing, from quarantine in San Francisco's Chinatown during the year 1900. In her newest novel, Newbery Honor Book author Choldenko (Al Capone Does My Shirts, 2004) delves into the controversial circumstances surrounding this outbreak of bubonic plague, as well as the more pedestrian challenges of growing up as a girl in early twentieth-century America. Bright and tenacious Lizzie has ambitions to become a doctor like her father, but such dreams give her little in common with other girls her age and also put her at odds with Aunt Hortense, who is determined to make a lady of her. The plot is enriched by winning characters, meaningful friendships, a taut atmosphere, and secrets multiplying as fast as the story's rats. Readers will sympathize as Lizzie fights for Jing and confronts challenges brought by adolescence, gender inequality, and racial prejudice. An author's note and chronology provide additional historical information. This engrossing mystery perfectly balances heart and intrigue, proving once again Choldenko's talent for packaging history within a story that kids are bound to love.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2015 Booklist
Horn Book Review
Newbery Honorwinning author Choldenko (Al Capone Does My Shirts) extends her historical San Franciscoset fiction with this light mystery. Thirteen-year-old Lizzie is a smart, scientifically-minded girl, which in 1900 makes her out of place in her silly finishing school, and she delights in following in her doctor fathers footsteps. Applying the scientific method to rumors of the bubonic plague in Chinatown, she finds herself facing the power of the media and racist political schemes as she attempts to rescue her Chinese housekeeper from quarantine. Choldenkos appealing and convincing main characters and detail-rich setting keep the story afloat, though there is little actual mystery in the endrather the disturbing smoke-and-mirrors of adults in power. As the mystery fades, Lizzie grows up. Some anachronistically progressive views may wear readers trust a little thin but may also tempt them to learn more about a fascinating place and time. nina lindsay (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Book Review
Infected rats and San Francisco's dark past at the turn of the 20th century come to light in Newbery Honoree Choldenko's (Al Capone Does My Shirts, 2004, etc.) look into an outbreak of bubonic plague. Even though 13-year-old Lizzie Kennedy attends the prim and proper Miss Barstow's School for Young Women, courtesy of well-to-do Aunt Hortense and Uncle Karl, she'd rather accompany Papa on his medical house calls. She longs to follow in her father's footsteps, unheard of for a girl and unlike her grouchy older brother, Billy. To ease her school loneliness, Lizzie relies on Jing, her family's beloved cook, who never fails to make her smile. As rumors about the plague infecting San Francisco abound, only Chinatown is put under quarantine. When Jing fails to return home, Lizzie fears he may be stuck in Chinatown. She's desperate to find him, not only for herself, but for Jing's 12-year-old son, Noah, who is hiding out in Jing's upstairs room. Lizzie and Noah's secret friendship grows with genuine tenderness and illuminates the differences and injustices that exist within gender, class, and race. Historical details, such as Joseph Kinyoun's pathogen experiment and immunization politics, feel meticulously researched (and familiar to the point of contemporaneity) but never take away from the story's heart. A solid story of friendship, mystery, and one girl's perseverance, in which a health scare and its rumors mirror today's epidemics. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 8-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.