August 22, 2023 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
After Absolutely Truly, Yours Truly, and Really Truly, Truly is still in Pumpkin Falls, where her Aunt True and her new husband have bought a dilapidated Sheep Farm. It falls to Truly and her grandparents to watch the farm while her aunt is on her honeymoon. Of course, there are some mysteries that unfold, as well as a cute new boy, Emilio, from Italy.
These books have the best covers, and are cozy mysteries for middle schoolers. Why aren't there more of these, like Beil's Swallowtail Legacy? I love the town, the farm, everything about it, and this is a perfect fall read for those of us who can't travel to New England to be "leaf peepers"! Excuse me while I go grab some cider and a doughnut.
March 1, 2022 by Viking Books for Young Readers
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
After finding out about the women who have formed the Secret Spy Society, Peggy, Rita and Dot get drawn into another mystery. A dress has gone missing from the Fashion Twins shop. They create fabulous garments for Josephine Baker, and want to know who has run roughshod over their shop and stolen one of their best creation. The girls investigate, and find a huge mess, as well as jelly doughnut filling spread about. They follow a trail of glitter to a house, and come the next day to find a group of scouts working busily. They are tending the yard and painting the house, but the girls need more information. With help from spy Virginia Hall, they get costumes and infiltrate the group, claiming to be transfer scouts. They uncover a slightly sinister plan to get children to chores under the guise of serving as scouts. Will they be able to prove that the woman doing this has bad intentions, and that she stole the dress?
This is a cute mystery with lots of girl power and some historical connections. The back of the book has thumbnail biographies of the women spies mentioned, and some appear in the book in various roles. In addition to Hall and Baker, one of the teacher is based on Noor Inayat Khan, and several others help at various points. While these women lived at different times, it's fun to think of them all working together. This had a bit of a feel of the Australian television program, Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, but with slightly more benign crimes.
This is a cute mystery with lots of girl power and some historical connections. The back of the book has thumbnail biographies of the women spies mentioned, and some appear in the book in various roles. In addition to Hall and Baker, one of the teacher is based on Noor Inayat Khan, and several others help at various points. While these women lived at different times, it's fun to think of them all working together. This had a bit of a feel of the Australian television program, Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, but with slightly more benign crimes.
The pink and black illustrations are on most pages, and some of the text is in white on black pages, so the book is very striking. There are lots of depictions of the fun costumes they wear, as well as all of the goings on in the "scouts" house. The villain is caught in a satisfactory way and learns her lesson.
Peggy, Rita, and Dot are all bold and fearless girls. Theyare always together, so I struggled to tell them apart, but they all had different personalities, as well as vaguely different ethnicities.
It's hard to find a short mystery book for early middle grade readers. This is a bit longer than Butler's Kayla and King mysteries, but would be a good choice for readers who enjoyed the similarly illustrated and classic Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus or Sobol's Encyclopdeia Brown mysteries.
March 28, 2023 by Viking Books for Young Readers
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Peggy, Rita and Dot are practicing furiously for the upcoming band concert. Dot plays drums, Rita plays saxophone, and Dot is on trombone... but also causes a lot of problems when she fools around during practice. Annoying Mr. Volrath. When the girls find out that a concert is scheduled for the same day as a math competition, they don't know what to do. Peggy and Dot don't care as much about the math, but since that is Rita's forte, she wants to skip the concert. Mr. Volrath is very understanding of whatever choice students make, but when musical instruments start disappearing, the girls bring their detective skills to work. Ms. Khan, who works at the school, invites the girls to tea with the Secret Spy Society, and introduces the girls to a group of top notch code breakers who teach the girls some tricks. Peggy is sure that Mr. Volrath is behind the missing instruments, and sneaks off to the school with Chiquita, whom she leaves outside in the rain since she can't bring a cheetah into school even after hours. The school is empty but unlocked, so Peggy goes inside. She is surprised to find Matthe in the building. He claims to be in the building studying for the competition all weekend, but things quickly change. Rita and Dot worry when Peggy doesn't come home, and head off with the spies to try to find her.
This volume uses purple along with the black in the illustrations, and again highlights not only many women spies of the past but also has a bit of information about the women who broke codes during World War II. There are times when students have to choose between activities, and it made sense that Rita and Matthew were deeply invested in their math pursuits.
I wasn't a huge fan of Peggy's behavior. In addition to being disruptive and rude in band class, she endangers herself running off at night during bad weather. It also seemed unlikely that a school building would have been wide open!
These books are a bit young for my middle school library, but they are not easy reads. They come in at a 5.4 reading level, when most middle grade (and a lot of adult books!) comes in at 4.5. The print is tiny, but so are the books. I'll send these on to the elementary school, where I think they will be a hit.
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