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Charlie & Frog #2
The Boney Hand
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.
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.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2019
10 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 29, 2021
I love the senile grandparents.... The case of the missing tv remote and the case of the frozen underwear.
August 12, 2019
diverse children's fiction (3rd-5th grade, a little spooky but mostly a good old-fashioned child detective story that takes place at a school for the Deaf)
The author is a hearing person and ASL interpreter who went to a school for the Deaf much like the main character Charlie, a hearing child with mostly-absent parents who goes to school with his best friend Frog (Deaf).
The spooky plot provides appeal to an audience not yet familiar with Charlie and Frog; with luck they'll be hooked on this series and will want to read more.
The author is a hearing person and ASL interpreter who went to a school for the Deaf much like the main character Charlie, a hearing child with mostly-absent parents who goes to school with his best friend Frog (Deaf).
The spooky plot provides appeal to an audience not yet familiar with Charlie and Frog; with luck they'll be hooked on this series and will want to read more.
August 24, 2019
My name is Charlie, and my best friend Frog is not "cute". Don't ever call her that unless you want to feel her wrath! I'm the only hearing student at the deaf school, and I've become the chief suspect in the Boney Hand's theft. The story of the Boney Hand is legendary around here, and it's disappearance has upset long traditions. I'd like to blame the school bully, but it looks like someone else is responsible. Luckily, Frog wants to be a serious detective, so we're going to team up and solve this case. Unfortunately, my grandparents want to help. Ugh! There must a logical explanation for the Boney Hand, but what if there isn't? What if the Boney Hand has actually come back to life?!
Charlie wasn't sure if the legend of The Boney Hand was true, but I decided to include this book with the speculative fiction anyway. Having a deaf main character was a unique twist, and many of the other characters were deaf too. This factor made communication between characters trickier than normal, but it really wasn't a big deal. Readers can actually learn a bit about sign language. The author included humorous elements to the plot in the form of Charlie's parents and grandparents. His mom and dad didn't want to be bad parents, so they read all the books they could find on the subject. They tried everything except for experiencing life with their son. The grandparents spent most of their time in their recliners until they received detective outfits in the mail, including fake mustaches. They had several mysteries of the their own to solve, like the missing remote. My biggest drawback to the story was how everyone was so wrapped up in the ghost story surrounding the Boney Hand. It was strange that so many adult characters accepted it as fact, while the children main characters were skeptical. The story just felt unbelievable. I think this book will most appeal to students in grades 4-6.
Charlie wasn't sure if the legend of The Boney Hand was true, but I decided to include this book with the speculative fiction anyway. Having a deaf main character was a unique twist, and many of the other characters were deaf too. This factor made communication between characters trickier than normal, but it really wasn't a big deal. Readers can actually learn a bit about sign language. The author included humorous elements to the plot in the form of Charlie's parents and grandparents. His mom and dad didn't want to be bad parents, so they read all the books they could find on the subject. They tried everything except for experiencing life with their son. The grandparents spent most of their time in their recliners until they received detective outfits in the mail, including fake mustaches. They had several mysteries of the their own to solve, like the missing remote. My biggest drawback to the story was how everyone was so wrapped up in the ghost story surrounding the Boney Hand. It was strange that so many adult characters accepted it as fact, while the children main characters were skeptical. The story just felt unbelievable. I think this book will most appeal to students in grades 4-6.
January 25, 2025
My review of the first book can be found here.
Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.
This sequel features the same cast of characters, plus new ones (other students and interpreters, mainly).
Charlie has been accepted as a student at the Castle despite being hearing and not deaf. If you think it sounds silly for a hearing person to go to a deaf school, think about the real life deaf children enrolled in hearing schools. It’s a really interesting reversal of the typical narrative.
Charlie has to learn ASL and struggles to understand what’s being signed around him, as it takes time to learn a new language no matter your age or immersion.
Very cute!—er, I mean, strong ;)
Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.
This sequel features the same cast of characters, plus new ones (other students and interpreters, mainly).
Charlie has been accepted as a student at the Castle despite being hearing and not deaf. If you think it sounds silly for a hearing person to go to a deaf school, think about the real life deaf children enrolled in hearing schools. It’s a really interesting reversal of the typical narrative.
Charlie has to learn ASL and struggles to understand what’s being signed around him, as it takes time to learn a new language no matter your age or immersion.
Very cute!—er, I mean, strong ;)
June 12, 2019
Charlie Tickler just wants his parents to listen and pay attention to him. Francine "Frog" Castle wants to become the world's greatest detective. Together they work to solve unexpected mysteries in their school, Castle School for the Deaf. In their latest adventure, Charlie is accused of stealing a piece of the school's famous history. Charlie and Frog must solve the case before the cursed object lands in the wrong hands.
The novel was filled with fun and eccentric characters including Charlie's parents and grandparents. There were a few juvenile jokes about frozen underwear, missing remotes, and jellybeans. I love that the author showcased people who are deaf or hard of hearing along with including instructions on sign language. My favorite part was learning how to sign my favorite thing in the world (chocolate!). A must read for any child who likes a cozy mystery with oddball humor.
The novel was filled with fun and eccentric characters including Charlie's parents and grandparents. There were a few juvenile jokes about frozen underwear, missing remotes, and jellybeans. I love that the author showcased people who are deaf or hard of hearing along with including instructions on sign language. My favorite part was learning how to sign my favorite thing in the world (chocolate!). A must read for any child who likes a cozy mystery with oddball humor.
October 17, 2019
I loved the first book and this one is even better! That's saying something considering the first Charlie and Frog was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Writers of America Award. This book is the perfect Christmas gift, and not just for ages 9 to 12. I am an American Sign Language interpreter and I think high school and college students who are studying American Sign Language will gain a lot of insight into the Deaf community by reading the Charlie and Frog series of books.
January 24, 2024
I did not enjoy this book as much as the first. However, owning a physical copy allowed my daughter and I the chance to practice some of the ASL signs. (The alphabet is written in the back.) This book did inspire me to include Morse code in the scavenger hunts that I do with my child. It was fun to read this with my daughter and have her do the grandpa's "ayuh" when it came up.
February 27, 2024
The signing was accurate. I just didn't like Grandpa Tickler that kept saying Ayuh. It was lame. And I still don't know who was that person that stole the hand. I know the name, but it didn't really explain who that person was. I usually keep my Sign Language books, but this one is not being kept.
December 25, 2020
Charlie and Frog want to be detectives. When the boney hand goes missing, they want to solve the mystery of who took it. Good story.
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October 8, 2021Excellent book!!!!
August 13, 2022
This was a really good book and I can’t wait to read the next one. It was a great mystery.
August 14, 2024
Cute, but as is typical for me, I liked the novelty of the first book and that's worn off for me in this second book.
October 3, 2019
The Boney Hand by Karen Kane is the second book in the Charlie & Frog middle grade mystery series. This time the mystery involves a school relic that is tied to the town's pirate history.
Charlie is continuing with his studies at the Castle School for the Deaf, being allowed in as an honorary Castle. His animal activist parents are living with Charlie's grandparents so that Charlie can continue to attend the school. Although they are trying to be better parents, they're still better and understanding the needs of rare animal species than the needs of their only son.
66CC66 marginalized uhoria offroad
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...
Charlie is continuing with his studies at the Castle School for the Deaf, being allowed in as an honorary Castle. His animal activist parents are living with Charlie's grandparents so that Charlie can continue to attend the school. Although they are trying to be better parents, they're still better and understanding the needs of rare animal species than the needs of their only son.
66CC66 marginalized uhoria offroad
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...
June 10, 2019
This was a good middle grade mystery. I don't know what I was expecting, but I definitely wasn't expecting the book to be this engaging. I LOVED that there was so much rep for individuals that are deaf or hard of hearing. I definitely would recommend this to any child that is interested in mystery. I'll be doing a full review of this on my blog for the blog tour. I'll add it on here when it goes live.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews