mystery – Page 10 – Mom Read It

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place – A Hilarious Whodunit!

Posted on September 21, 2014September 20, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, by Julie Berry (Roaring Brook Press, Sept 2013) $15.99, ISBN: 9781596439566

Recommended for ages 10+

In Victorian England, seven girls are students at St. Etheldreda’s School for Girls when their headmistress, Mrs. Plackett, and her brother, Mr. Godding, drop dead at the dinner table, poisoned. Once the girls are sure that the poisoner isn’t among them, they figure out their next steps – namely, how to get Mrs. Plackett and her brother out of sight, and creating a cover story that will allow them to continue on at St. Etheldreda’s, unchaperoned, mistresses of their own destiny! The only problem – the poisoner REALLY wants the targets out of the picture. And if everyone thinks the headmistress and her brother are still alive, then the girls may still be in danger.

The seven girls are often identified with an adjective that gives readers a background on their personality: Disgraceful Mary Jane, who’s more concerned with the attention of the opposite sex than she is about keeping to their cover story; Stout Alice, who’s stout of heart as well as body; Dour Elinor, who could be the mother of the goth movement; Dull Martha, who’s… well… not that bright; Dear Robert, a kind soul with nothing bad to say about anyone; Pocked Louise, the burgeoning scientist with a bit of a blemish condition, and Smooth Kitty, daughter of a businessman, who seems to have inherited his smooth talking business acumen. Their personalities clash and meld according to the situation as they work together to keep up their façade and solve the mysteries that continue to pop up around them.

The book is darkly funny – think the Gashlycrumb Tinies in finishing school. It’s a comedy of manners meets a Victorian crime drama, and Julie Berry – a noted middle grade and YA novelist – embraces the genres. I enjoyed every second I read this book. If I were to find out that somehow, some way, we’d get to go on more adventures with the Sisterhood, I’d be thrilled!

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place hits stores on September 23rd. I’ve already got my order in for my library – this will make for fun Fall reading! Treat yourself and your middle graders/tweens to this hilarious whodunit.

Julie Berry’s author page provides links to social media and information about author visits, plus book info.

Take a look at The Scandalous Sisterhood’s book trailer – then get your order in!

Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads, Uncategorized

Somebody on This Bus is Going to Be Famous – but why?

Posted on July 29, 2014July 29, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Somebody on This Bus is Going to Be Famous, by J.B. Cheaney (Sept. 2014, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), $16.99, ISBN: 9781402292972

Recommended for ages 9-13

The bus picks the kids up every day, and heads to school. Someone, someday soon, is going to be famous. But why?

The story takes a deeper look into the lives of nine people on that bus – eight kids, one adult (the bus driver, Ms. B), twining their narratives, as their lives intersect, and leading to a taut climax. There’s Shelley, the wannabe pop star; Miranda, so desperate to have popular kids be her friend that she’ll let them walk all over her; Spencer, the nerd who’s having a crisis of faith in himself; Igor, whose dad is a big mystery that he wants to unravel; Jay, the jock whose grandfather – his biggest fan – is slipping away; Bender, the son who can’t get out of his brother’s shadow, Matthew, who’s just… average – at first; and Alice, who has some secrets of her own. Tied into these stories is the story of the high school graduation of 1985, where a prank was carried out, with tragic circumstances.

I had a rough time with this book. I didn’t like most of the characters, who just didn’t seem to be like good people. As I thought more about them, though, I realized that it’s not that they’re good or bad, they’re kids. They’re largely elementary and middle school students, and the depictions are pretty realistic-adolescence can be a hard time, and sometimes, tweens and teens and adults just don’t speak one another’s language. The narratives are largely depressing – there is some humor in the book, but most of these kids have some pretty awful stuff happening in their lives.

The ending was satisfying, and the overall story will draw readers in with the different narratives. The book can be used in a book group discussion on different personalities working together.

Fiction, Tween Reads

The Haunted Museum – a new series for fans who like scary history!

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Haunted Museum #1: The Titanic Locket, by Suzanne Weyn (Scholastic, 2014). $6.99, ISBN: 9780545588423

Recommended for ages 8-12

Samantha and Jessica’s parents take them on a cruise on the Titanic 2, which will take the same route that the fated Titanic took in 1912. Right before they board, the visit the Haunted Museum, where they both touch a locket – despite reading the “DO NOT TOUCH” signs. Once they get on board, things get weird – their room number keeps changing, they hear a scratching and a crying at their door, and there seems to be a ghostly maid who has it in for Samantha? And how did the locket from the museum show up in Jessica’s bag?

I have to be honest, I was expecting a perfectly cute little middle-grade mystery when I picked up Haunted Museum #1, but got so much more. This book has some bite! There is some great historical background on Titanic in here (to satisfy any Common Core issues), including bits about the time period – clothes, people who sailed on the ship, and descriptions of the ship itself – especially that gorgeous Grand Staircase – really give the book life. I loved that the sisters actually got along, rather than falling back on the old love/hate sibling rivalry formula. There is a good mystery wrapped within a mystery here, too – it’s an all-around great read.

Kids in my library love mysteries and scary books, but they’ve gone through all the ABC Mysteries, Capital Mysteries, and Goosebumps books I’ve got. This will be a great new mystery to put on my shelf and get the kids enjoying for summer reading.

Fiction, Teen, Uncategorized, Young Adult/New Adult

Oblivion – a mystery about identity and secrets

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Oblivion, by Sasha Dawn, Egmont USA (2014). $19.99, ISBN: 9781606844762

Recommended for ages 16+

Calliope Knowles is a 16 year-old graphomaniac. For her, writing isn’t just a hobby – it’s something she’s compelled to do. When the mania hits, she needs her notebook and a red felt-tipped pen; she writes, in a trance, and the words, while almost poetic in structure, are unsettling. Possibly because they may be subconscious clues – Callie’s father is missing, along with a 12 year-old girl named Hannah. Callie was found in an abandoned apartment writing, “I KILLED HIM” all over the walls. Her mother is in a mental institution, after stabbing her abusive father only weeks before the disappearance.

Her father, a reverend at the Church of Holy Promise, was popular with his congregation, but was not a good man. Now, Callie, living with a foster family, is haunted by faulty memories that her subconscious is fighting to access. At the same time, she has a foster sister that she adores, but finds herself attracted to the same guy as she; she has a team of police and a therapist working with her to unravel the threads of her memory, and her mother seems to have a lot of secrets.

I thought this was a great book. I love a good mystery and I like an unreliable narrator/main character, because it keeps me guessing. Sasha Dawn has created an amazing series of layers for this story, with a main plot and several subplots running throughout, and always manages to keep all the balls in play. When revelations hit, time and time again, I was bowled over. This is a great summer read for teens who appreciate a good mystery and a story about identity. There are references to abuse, sex, and drug use, so I’m going to recommend an age of 16 for this one. If parents feel their child is mature enough to handle this subject matter at an earlier age, I’ll suggest age 14, but I really wouldn’t go younger. The book hits shelves on May 27, so put this one on your summer reading list.

Historical Fiction, Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Of Monsters and Madness – Alternate Historical Fiction, starring Edgar Allan Poe

Posted on May 20, 2014May 20, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Of Monsters and Madness, by Jessica Verday, (Egmont USA) 2014. $17.99, ISBN: 9781606844632

Recommended for ages 14+

Horror and gothic fans will love this book! Annabel Lee – yes, for all intents and purposes of this book, this character is THE Annabel Lee of Edgar Allan Poe fame is a teenage girl, who finds herself moving from Siam to Philadelphia when her mother dies, and she must live with the father she’s never known. Unfamiliar with life and customs in the 1820s United States and confronted with a cold father who keeps her at a distance, Annabel feels left out and pines for her mother and her life in Siam. Her father, once a brilliant surgeon and scientist, now spends most of his time in his laboratory, assisted by Edgar, who unnerves Annabel – yet bears an uncanny resemblance to his cousin, Allan, who Annabel finds herself falling for. Annabel is living in a house full of secrets; when a rash of murders breaks out in Philadelphia, and her father’s strange behavior becomes more erratic, Annabel is determined to unravel the mysteries that consume her life. But finding out answers could put her life in danger.

I loved this book. The idea of making Edgar Allan Poe a character in a gothic mystery, taking place in the United States, is such a great idea – how did no one think of this sooner? We get glimpses of Poe’s writing – he tortures himself over writing The Raven, and bits of The Tell-Tale Heart make an appearance – and the toll that such dark ideas takes on the man. There are some key plot twists that will leave readers staying up all night to finish the book, and then – like me – demand a sequel. Ms. Verday is a New York Times bestselling author, and she knows how to construct a well-paced thriller with smart characters. I’m looking forward to this book hitting shelves in September, and I would recommend it for adults as well as teens.

Fiction, Post-apocalyptic/Dystopian, Science Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Alena Graedon’s The Word Exchange: an all-too plausible dystopia.

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Word Exchange, by Alena Graedon. Doubleday Books (2014), $13.99, ISBN: 9780385537667

Recommended for 18+

While Alena Graedon’s The Word Exchange isn’t written for YA/New Adult audiences, I wholeheartedly believe that these readers should read it, much in the way that they should read (if they haven’t already) Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One. Alex Awards, are you listening?

The Word Exchange takes place in an entirely believable, very near future. Society is too plugged in – smartphones appear to have morphed into devices called Memes, which think for you. Well, not really – but kind of. They anticipate what you want to do – hail a cab? Order a coffee? – and even offer you words when you can’t think of the word you’re looking for. Ana, a young woman who works with her father, Doug Johnson, at the North American Dictionary of the English Language (NADEL, for short), uses her meme – something Doug has no patience for; he feels like books and language are a disappearing art. He has no idea how right he is.

There’s a virus – WordFlu – that’s erasing language, stealing it from the populace. They start by bungling words here and there, eventually devolving into gibberish, silence, and ultimately, death. When Doug goes missing, Ana goes on the search for her father and finds herself in the middle of something far greater than she, Doug, or the Dicionary could ever be – could there really be a plot in place to erase language?

Told in the form of journal entries by Ana and her friend, Doug’s associate Bartleby (also known as Horace), The Word Exchange examines what would happen in a society that leaves entirely too much to technology. It’s very unsettling, because it’s only a step or two from where we are now. Imagine if someone were to create an app that let you think of the word that was on the tip of your tongue, but you couldn’t remember, for pennies a download? Now imagine if you had a Seamless or taxi service available to you without even picking up your phone or pulling up your app? Those bothersome clicks and pokes to the touchscreen would go away, because your Meme would do all the work for you. Would society really hand over the reins so easily?

The book starts slowly, laying groundwork – the mystery of Doug’s disappearance happens fairly soon in the book, but Ana’s search builds until about halfway through the book, when the action just explodes. Layered and tautly paced, this book was unputdownable for the second half. She’s got complex, three-dimensional characters, and a plot that chilled me to the bone just thinking about it – because it could happen. Very easily.

Teens and young adults should be reading this book, because they’re the next generation – they’ll appreciate the setting and hopefully, the message that Ms. Graedon delivers. It’s a fantastic book discussion group title that explores technology, morality, and the politics of doing business in an increasingly online world. I loved this book and can’t wait to see some of the discussions that evolve around it.

Adventure, Fiction, Middle School, Tween Reads

Young Sherlock and Irene Adler Face Off in Sherlock, Lupin, and Me: The Dark Lady

Posted on March 21, 2014March 21, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Sherlock, Lupin and Me: The Dark Lady, by Irene Adler. Capstone Young Readers (2014), $12.95, ISBN: 9781623700409

Recommended for ages 9-14

Written by Irene Adler herself, this middle-grade novel details the first time Irene Adler, a young American girl living abroad and vacationing with her mother in a French coastal town, meets Sherlock Holmes and his friend, Lupin. The three become quick friends; when a dead body washes up on the beach one morning, they decide to solve the mysteries surrounding the dead man: who was he? Was this a suicide or a murder, and why?

Woven into the story’s fabric is background information on Holmes and Adler, offering glimpses into life events that led to the adults they become. Adler lives with her mother and her butler, Horatio Nelson, who seems to double as a chaperone/bodyguard. Young Irene is headstrong and willful, seemingly at endless odds with her mother. Sherlock is a quiet, somewhat surly, brilliant boy who’s reticent to discuss his home life; he has an older brother and a younger sister that annoy him. Arsene Lupin, the son of an acrobat, is a reckless young man who has an eye for Irene, but may eventually find himself at odds with the great Sherlock Holmes.

I really enjoyed this story. Middle graders who have already begun studying Sherlock Holmes will enjoy seeing the character development written into this young, teenage Sherlock, and those unfamiliar with Holmes will doubtless enjoy this introduction, easing them into the great sleuth’s world. The writing is fun and accessible to younger readers, and the sets itself up for a potentially exciting continuing series. For starters, will we find out more about Lupin, who ends up being one of the most famous thieves in literature? Will we meet a young Moriarty? A young Lestrade or Watson? And will we find out more about Irene Adler’s parents, who seem very secretive about something to do with Irene?

Jacopo Bruno’s Victorian-type illustrations add a Holmesian feel to each chapter, setting a mood for the reader.

I love the pairing of the world’s greatest detective with the world’s best gentleman thief as teenagers – I can’t wait to see where this series is going to go.

The Capstone Kids site should be getting a minisite up soon, but I didn’t see anything on Sherlock, Lupin and Me at the moment.

Fiction, Tween Reads, Uncategorized

Minerva Mint: The Order of the Owls

Posted on March 20, 2014March 20, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Minerva Mint: The Order of the Owls, by Elisa Puricelli Guerra/illus. by Gabo Leon Bernstein, Capstone Young Readers Group (2014), $9.95, ISBN: 9781623700386

Recommended for ages 8-10

Minerva Mint: The Order of the Owls is the first book in a new middle-grade series about an eccentric young girl named Minerva Mint, her two friends, Thomasina Crowley and Ravi Kapoor, and the mysteries that the group solves together; the most important being to find Minerva’s parents.

Minerva was found, as an infant, in a bag in Victoria Station. She lives in Lizard Manor -a large, ramshackle mansion that has seen better days – with Mrs. Flopps, the station custodian who discovered Minerva. Minerva meets Ravi and Thomasina, and the three become fast friends. Thomasina shares Minerva’s adventurous spirit and Ravi, a bit more level-headed and fearful, comes along for the ride at first because of his crush on Thomasina. He grows into himself during the group’s first adventures, but I’m pretty sure we’ll still see him as the voice of reason in the group.

This first book establishes the characters and the underlying mystery that will permeate the series – who are Minerva’s parents, and why did they leave her as an infant? There are some clues in the bag Minerva was found in, and she tries to put the pieces together. Thomasina and Ravi are sworn to help her, but Minerva is no damsel in distress; she can handle after years of fending off various long lost “parents” who come to the home in search of the valuable real estate and imagined riches in Lizard Manor.

The story is fast-paced and light, perfect for a middle-grade read about friendship with some mystery thrown in. Minerva is a quirky, fun character that will appeal to girls who want to step outside the “girly” model. Thomasina – pretty, blonde, wealthy Thomasina – is an adventurous spirit and a friendly, outgoing girl, which is a relief if you’re tired of the seemingly obligatory mean girls popping up as dramatic foils. Ravi is a shy, fearful boy who allows himself to be drawn out by the two girls. The group’s valued friendship sends a good message to younger readers about sticking together.

Gabo Leon Bernstein’s black and white illustrations are adorable and add to the story, giving us characters to bond with and creepy, fun landscapes. His illustrations advance the plot and fire up the imagination.

I look forward to more Minerva Mint books, and luckily, there are a two in progress: Merlin’s Island and The Legend of Black Bart. The publishers website offers extras, including character profiles, a book trailer, and downloadable clues sheet and a secret club contract that readers can use for their own secret societies!

Adventure, Espionage, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Steampunk

Book Review: Etiquette & Espionage, by Gail Carriger (Little, Brown, 2013)

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 13+

Gail Carriger, author of the Parasol Protectorate series, kicks off her YA Finishing School series, set in the same universe as the Parasol Protectorate series, with Etiquette & Espionage.

Fourteen year-old Sophronia is driving her society lady mother crazy. She climbs trees. She takes apart things to figure out how they work. She lines her books with rubber from a dumbwaiter in the house. Fed up with Sophronia’s antics, she sends her to finishing school – Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, to be precise.

What neither Sophronia nor her mother bet on, though, was that this is no ordinary finishing school – when they say “finish”, they mean “finish” – the students learn how to curtsey and flutter their eyelashes, but they also learn about poisoning, espionage, and weapons placement. Sophronia is learning to be a spy and an assassin in addition to being a lady. But she also stumbles into a mystery involving one of the students as soon as she boards the coach to school – what is really going on at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s, and what does her newfound nemesis have to do with it?

While I am a big fan of the Parasol Protectorate series and went into this series with high hopes, I was a little let down here. I understand that this is the first book in a new series, with much to be established, but I felt there was an overall lack of plot to drive the story forward. It seemed more a collection of “look what Sophronia’s got herself into now” moments, with some vague subplot surfacing to give her an archenemy in future books.

The dry humor is there, though, and that kept me reading. I love the way Ms. Carriger writes, and I enjoy her stubborn heroines who can lock horns with a werewolf and then stress about their state of dress and look for a cup of tea. I enjoy the Parasol Protectorate universe, and there’s paranormal and steampunk aplenty here, with werewolves, dirigibles, and automatons for all. There are a few pleasant surprises for Parasol Protectorate fans, too.

If you’re a fan of Carriger’s, you’ll at least enjoy the universe and references. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Fiction, Tween Reads

Book Review: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsberg (Athenum Press, 1967)

Posted on October 25, 2011October 30, 2011 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 9-12

After reading this Newbery Medal award winner as a child, I wanted to run away and live in the Museum of Natural History. Yes, the museum was different from The Met, where the main characters ran away to, but I wanted to live with dinosaurs.

Claudia is a precocious 11-year old who lives in Connecticut with her family and feels unappreciated and bored. She decides to teach her family a lesson in “Claudia appreciation” and plans to run away. She invites her 9-year old brother, Jamie to go with her because he’s cheap and has money. When he agrees, she sets her elaborate plan in motion, and the two run away and spend a week living in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

While wandering around all of the exhibits, Claudia and Jamie happen upon a new exhibit of Angel, a statue rumored to be one of Michelangelo’s earlier works. Focused on solving the mystery of Angel’s origin, Claudia cannot go home until she has figured it out. She feels that knowing the secret will change her somehow; give her running away a purpose.

Their search for information takes them all the way to the statue’s previous owner, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, a wealthy widow living in Connecticut. She manages to get the children to tell her where they have been for the past week, and offers them, in return for their story, an hour in her file room where the secret to the statue lives; they are then driven home by her chauffer.

This story is still relevant over 40 years later. Parts of it may not resonate with new audiences – maybe an 11- and 9-year old wandering the streets of New York City sounds riskier in this day and age – but it is, at heart, a child’s fantasy. What preteen hasn’t felt unappreciated by his or her family and dreamed of running away? This is a New York adventure that boys and girls alike should read and enjoy.

Konigsburg does not speak down to her audience; rather, she details how intelligent Claudia and Jamie are as she details the planning process for running away, their complex hiding arrangements, and their need to stick to a budget. They make mature decisions: Jamie nixes the idea of a bus or a cab for transportation, saying it will eat into their money too quickly; they take care of themselves by bathing in the fountains (and also collecting some of the coins tossed in there to add to their nest egg) and doing their laundry; they strive to learn something every day, despite not being in school.

E.L. Konigsburg received Newbery Medals for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and The View from Saturday; she also received Newbery Honors for Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth. There is a wealth of information about the book online, including discussion guides through Scholastic and the Wake County Library system.