Double Trouble Squared (Starbuck Family Adventures) [Hardcover]

Kathryn Lasky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1991 | Age Level: 8 and up | Series: Starbuck Family Adventures

In London with their family, telepathic twelve-year-old twins Liberty and July receive strange emanations from an early residence of Arthur Conan Doyle and discover a literary ghost.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-- If one set of twins is double trouble, then two sets of twins in one family is double trouble squared, especially when the twins in question have the power to communicate with oneother telepathically. The Starbuck family includes 12-year-old fraternal twins July Burton and Liberty Bell; their younger mirror image siblings, Charlotte and Amalie; the children's mother, herself a twin; her obnoxious sister, Honey; and, lastly, father Putnam Starbuck, who has just become an undersecretary at the U. S. Embassy in London. This change of jobs and venue takes the twins and their teacher Zanny the Nanny (oh, these names!) to the native turf of their hero, Sherlock Holmes, and a rendezvous with a mysterious spirit voice that has been invading the twins' telepathic turf. If all of this sounds complicated, it is; in fact, so busy is the author with introducing her cornucopia of characters and their eccentricities that it takes her 154 pages to orchestrate the pivotal encounter that will engage the plot. Granted this is the first of a proposed series and, accordingly, a good deal of background information needs to be imparted. But the fundamental problem remains that there are simply too many characters, both human and . . . otherwise (this is a ghost story of sorts, after all). One hopes that future stories will focus more on plot and less on the too literary complexities of characterization. Otherwise the terms ``Starbuck Family'' and ``adventure'' will join the ranks of such treasured oxymorons as ``jumbo shrimp.'' --Michael Cart, Beverly Hills Public Library
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

KATHRYN LASKY's many books for young people have received such honors as the Parents' Choice Award,and a Newbery Honor. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (November 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152241264
• ISBN-13: 978-0152241261
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,046,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi Readers! Thanks for coming by my author page. I've written all sorts of books - from fantasy about animals to books about science. One of my favorite animal fantasy series, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, is a major motion picture. I liked writing about Ga'Hoole so much that I decided to revisit that world in a new series, Wolves of the Beyond. Visit my website, www.kathrynlasky.com to see a slide show about the real wolves I researched for the series and for the latest update on the Guardians of Ga'Hoole movie. All my best, Kathryn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Mystery Mix, March 29, 2002

By 

"saraswathi" (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Double Trouble Squared (Starbuck Family Adventures) (Hardcover)

Double Trouble Squared is a great mystery about the Starbuck twins, their ability to use telepathy with each other and their interest in Sherlock Holmes. Liberty and July, twins, a boy and girl, born on the Fourth of July, hence the names, and their little sisters, the twins Charley and Molly, have long been able to telepath, communicate with thought, instead of words. In the recent weeks surrounding their move to London, mysterious things are happening with their telepathy. Echoes, sad, but not frightening, and static are begining to interupt their communication.The children must unravel the mystery, leadin them into fooggy London, wodded Sussex, the Tower of London, Stratford upon Frustration and finally back to their house at Devonshire Mews. It is a wonderful, engrossing, but not at all scary mystery mixing twins, Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle, and London in a splendid mix.This book about the Starbuck family will make you want more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for anyone interested in mysteries!!, July 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Double Trouble Squared: A Starbuck Family Adventure, Book One (Paperback)

12 year old twins,Liberty and July, travel with their parents, tutor, and twin little sisters, Charly and Molly, to London where they find a lost manuscript and meet a literary ghost. Both sets of twins can communicate telepathically to any of the others which adds a really interesting twist to the book. I really loved this book because it's a wonderful, fast-paced, interesting mystery and it tells what it's like to be a twin. Once you've read this book you'll want to read the next two books in the series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book to Be Read Over and Over Again, April 1, 2000

By 

Beth (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Double Trouble Squared: A Starbuck Family Adventure, Book One (Paperback)

I am into Double Trouble Squared for the 3rd time and still love it. I recommend this book for anyone interested in Sherlock Holmes, twins (twinology) or if you just want to read a great book. Liberty and July are so life-like, and if you know twins, like me, you will notice the similarities! READ THIS BOOK--interesting for all ages.