A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

Warga, Jasmine. A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

September 10, 2024 by HarperCollins

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Rami Ahmed's supervises the cleaning at the Penelope L. Brooks museum in Maple Lake, and he loves hanging out there. Unfortunately, a painting has been stolen, and both he and his mom are worried that they are on the list of suspects, especially since the cameras were turned off and it looks like it might have been an inside job. His father is working in Atlanta, and his mother still misses her life in Lebanon. He's also dealing with some issues at school, and his friends are no longer talking to him. His concerns increase when he starts to see a girl hanging around the museum... but she's dressed in old fashioned clothes, and her feet don't quite touch the ground. He meets Veda, a classmate who is willing to talk to him, and she helps him investigate the stolen painting. The girl turns out to be the girl from the H.F. Bottentow painting, so the two determine that there must be some kind of issue with the painting to keep her spirit stuck in the museum. They try to go to the Evergreen Pines Nursing Home, where the elderly artist lives, to try to get information, but this is not sucessful. Eventually, with the help of a turtle, Agatha, who lives in the museum yard, the two are able to solve not only the mystery of the stolen painting, but also of the ghost. 

Strengths: How cool would it be to get to hang out in a local museum all of the time? Rami's life has some difficulties, but his mother is very supportive. It was good to see him making a new friend and learning how to work with her. There are plenty of clues, and they are untangled in a satisfying way.
Weaknesses: The chapters from Agatha's point of view make this seem a little more suitable for elementary school, even though Rami and Veda are in middle school. 
What I really think: This is a great choice for fans of Blue Balliet's work, McDunn's When Sea Becomes Sky, Gray's The Amelia Six, Wells' Eddie Red Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile or other museum related mysteries.