The Tiara on the Terrace

May 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-The annual Luna Vista Winter Sun Festival is right around the corner, and Grace Yang and Sophie Young are thrilled to be working as pages. Helping to set up the floats and accessorizing the Festival Royal Court provide the girls with plenty of freedom, and when Mr. Steptoe, the festival president, is found murdered, they decide to get to the bottom of the crime. There are a host of interesting sidekicks and festival-queen wannabes adding high jinks and drama, as well as another murder to complicate the situation. Sophie and Grace face many ups and downs in this case, including issues of what it means to be a loyal friend. Their theories on the murderer are constantly tested, but these seventh graders never quit. While the plot walks the line of silly and saccharine, it will delight middle grade readers with its spirit of fun and friendship. Amanda Philipson's narration is upbeat and at times hilarious, though the wide range of voices, while amusing, may also prove distracting.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015
Following The Wig in the Window (2013), preteen sleuths Sophie Young and Grace Yang are back for a second outing, joined by Trista Bottoms, this time investigating the death]and potentially the murder]of a man managing their major local parade. Could the tyrannical supervisor of float construction be the perpetrator, perhaps driven by anger over the fact that her daughter has not been selected queen of the event? There are several other candidates for murderer as well, and each, the girls discover, has both some form of alibi and some kind of motivation to have done the deed. Occasionally assisted by Sophie's crush, Rod, the trio gets into and out of peril more than once. Complicating things, all three girls are selected to spend a weekend serving as assistants to the teenage girls of the parade's Royal Court. A new threat to their partnership emerges as Grace evinces interest in those popular girls, leaving narrator Sophie feeling as if this may be both their last case and the end of their deep bond. The team uncovers lots of clues (and numerous red herrings, too), which leads to a rather too lengthy tale. Nevertheless, the danger they encounter is remarkably believable, leading to a breathtaking climax and making up for some of the somewhat plodding twists and turns. An entertaining mystery featuring kids who readily outsmart all the adults; what could be better? (Mystery. 9-12)

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July 1, 2016
Spy/detective pals Sophie, Grace, and Trista (The Wig in the Window) sleuth again when a dead body shows up on a parade float for the town's annual extravaganza. The three become pages in the parade Royal Court to hunt for clues. The mystery is well constructed, with numerous red herrings and confounding twists, but the engaging friendship story is even more compelling.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

December 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-Seventh-graders Sophie, Grace, and Trista are local heroes after tracking down a missing criminal in The Wig in the Window (HarperCollins, 2013). They are helping with the preparations for their town's Winter Sun Festival when the festival's president, Mr. Steptoe, is discovered to have been killed by a malfunctioning parade float. Suspecting foul play, the three friends decide that the best way to track down evidence about their suspects is to join the court of the Festival Queen. In between photo shoots and T-shirt decorating, the sleuths manage to sneak into the festival offices and parade float storage to find enough information to discover who was behind Mr. Steptoe's death. The tweens navigate several near misses and scrapes, including being locked in a cooler full of flowers without Trista's inhaler, and the story reaches its climax in a dramatic scene with a runaway float at the Winter Sun Festival Parade. Like the first book in the series, this action-packed mystery will have readers on the edge of their seats while at the same time reflecting on the ups and downs of friendship and the insecurities that come along with being a tween. VERDICT This volume will be enjoyed by middle graders who enjoy detailed mysteries, especially those who appreciated the first of the series.-Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.