Charlie & Frog: The Boney Hand Blog Tour & Review ~ BookishRealm

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I'll be reviewing Charlie & Frog: The Boney Hand as a part of a blog tour for RockStar Book Tours. Please keep reading to check out my review, learn more about the book and author, and enter a giveaway!

All Charlie Tickler wants is for his parents to listen. All Francine (a.k.a Frog) Castle wants is to be the world's greatest detective. So begins the friendship of Charlie and Frog, who soon become a crime-solving duo, restoring order to Castle-on-the-Hudson. Charlie, the new kid at the Castle School for the Deaf continues to find unexpected mysteries in the sleepy town of Castle-on-the-Hudson with Frog, his new friend and crime-solving partner. Just when Charlie thinks everything has settled down, a piece of the school's famous history goes missing, and it's up to the Charlie and Frog to solve the case, before it's too late.

This book was a pleasant and interesting surprise. It’s not often that I find a middle grade mystery that not only captures my attention but also keeps me guessing until the very end. Charlie attends the local academy for students who are deaf or hard of hearing with his best friend Frog who is deaf. Frog dreams of nothing more than becoming a detective and even writes a letter to a famous TV show host that considers himself to be a detective. When the legendary skeleton hand that is housed at the academy goes missing, Charlie and Frog are on the case to solve the mystery.

I think what stood out the most to me about this book was the manner in which the author included representation of deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Usually books would include rep in which the deaf or hard of hearing individual is the minority; however, in the case of this book the hearing population is the minority and all communication that occurs between characters is through signing, written notes, and interpreters. It added a new and exciting perspective to the book and I enjoyed that each chapter includes an image of a character signing the name of the chapter. I learned a lot of signs just from following these chapter titles.

The plot was well developed and executed. I had several theories of who could possibly be responsible for taking the skeleton hand; however, every theory I had was foiled through discoveries made by Charlie and Frog. This is a big deal for me because my judgement of mysteries is solely dependent upon how predictable they are and this book was far from predictable which did keep me intrigued. I also enjoyed the relationship between Charlie and Frog. They gave each other a sense of balance. Frog encouraged Charlie to be more bold while Charlie reminded Frog when it was better to think about decisions being made instead of jumping in head first. Because the book was written in a Charlie’s perspective, the reader has the opportunity to explore more of his internal thoughts which is wonderful especially since he’s a hearing student attending a school for deaf and hard of hearing students. He struggles a lot which is understandable considering that he’s slowly learning ASL and attempting to fit into a world where some individuals want to make him an outcast just for being able to hear. Charlie also faces a lot of struggles at home including parents who aren’t attentive and grandparents who sometimes pay too much attention to what he’s doing. It was interesting seeing him evolve as a character in this book.

Overall, this book is a great middle grade mystery with interesting and dynamic characters. It covers topics like bullying, friendship, relationships between children and parents, and more. It’s easy to read and teachers readers a lot about signing. This is one I will definitely recommend to the kids at my job.

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Karen Kane’s path to Charlie & Frog led her from a small village near Rochester, NY, to the bustle of Washington, DC. The people she met along the way inspired her writing with their warmth and humor, especially those in the Deaf community. Karen graduated from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When she’s not writing, Karen spends her days as a sign language interpreter at Gallaudet University or lost in the stacks of her local library. Charlie & Frog is her first novel.

Giveaway Details:

3 lucky winners will receive finished copies of CHARLIE & FROG THE BONEY HAND, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

6/3/2019- BookHounds YA- Excerpt

6/4/2019- Two Chicks on Books- Excerpt

6/5/2019- Twirling Book Princess- Excerpt

6/6/2019- Little Red Reads- Excerpt

6/7/2019- The Suburban Lifestyle- Review

Week Two:

6/10/2019- BookishRealmReviews- Review