MMGM- The Sweetest Heist in History

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe and What Are You Reading? day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. Nonfiction Monday also occurs today.



Spencer, Octavia. The Sweetest Heist in History (Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective #2)
March 31st 2015 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Randi finds life in Deere Creek, Tennessee pretty boring, since the only mysteries to solve are things like Amber-Grace stealing office supplies from the bank her father ran. When her aunt Gigi offers to have her spend a weekend in Brooklyn, and she's able to travel there with her friend Pudge's family, she gladly accepts. When they get there, Pudge's family agrees to let him stay , too, and they proceed to find mysteries everywhere they go. DC also ends up in town at a martial arts competition his father is supposed to be judging, but he doesn't manage to see his estranged father. The Russian men moving into the building where her aunt lives are immediately suspect, especially since the art museum has a display of Faberge eggs. Since Randi is also missing her mother, who would occasionally travel around Brooklyn in the persona of her father's fictional character, Glenn Street, her aunt fills her in on some information. Using not only her powers of deduction but also her ninja skills, Randi manages to solve the mystery of the missing Faberge eggs.
Strengths: Again, a solid mystery with a nice cast of characters. The activities in the back are rather amusing as well, such as the making of sugar flowers. I can see myself begging my mother to do these things after reading the book.
Weaknesses: It would have been more interesting if Randi's mother were alive, had stopped her activities as Glenn Street, and was a mild mannered mother. THEN, when Randi went to Brooklyn, she and her mother could have investigated things together when they got over Randi's head. Far more satisfying, but a little late, now that she's been killed off.

Blume, Lesley M. M. Julia and the Art of Practical Travel
March 10th 2015 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

When Julia's grandmother passes away, and she and her aunt Constance are forced to sell their Hudson Valley house and all its contents. Constance decides that the two should find Julia's mother, who ran off several years back to pursue a hippie lifestyle. Since it's 1968, they pack up a station wagon with some of their most treasured heirlooms and head off to Greenwich Village with only the vague thought that Rosemary might be there. She isn't, but after consorting with some of the less desirables in the area, they get a clue that she might have gone to New Orleans, and head there. They are able to stay with a family friend at her genteel house, and this friend has links to the voodoo community. A soothsayer tells them to head west. They swing by Texas and spend some time on a ranch, then end up in San Francisco. They eventually find Rosemary, but as the voodoo fortune said, she's not the same person. Constance realizes they must move on without her, and ends up enrolling Julia in the same private school that she attended, while she takes a room at the Barbizon Hotel in New York City. Things don't go well at the boarding school, but can Julia and her aunt find some way that the two of them can be a family?
Strengths: This was a very fun, short read, and I always need books set in the 1960s. This did a good job of bringing in the culture of the times, and even felt a bit like a 1960s book at times-- the mansion in New York start, the scenes in the West, even the California wanderings. Definitely purchasing.
Weaknesses: This fell apart in a big way at the end. Julia was such a delightful, energetic character that I just didn't believe she was too delicate a flower to survive boarding school. I truly believe she would have been the one organizing midnight feasts in defiance of the house mother.
What I really thought: I didn't like that Julia and her aunt needed to be saved by a teacher, and then there is a completely deus ex machine ending. I would rather have seen Julia and her aunt move forward rather than backward. I liked the first part of the book so much that the ending really rather angered me! Adore the cover, but it has a sootlike effect that makes me keep trying to wipe it down!

Lost in Paris

Callaghan, Cindy. Lost in Paris
March 17th 2015 by Aladdin
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Gwen gets to go to Paris because her three older brothers are playing in sports tournaments. She's looking forward to spending quality girl time with her mom, but once they get to the City of Lights, they find out that her mom has to accompany her brothers. That's okay, because old friend Brigitte meets up with Gwen and offers to take her on her rounds with the pet business she runs. With the help of Henri, who is Gwen's age but works for the hotel where she is staying, the three get involved with a contest to win free tickets to a sold out Shock Wave contest, since it's Gwen's favorite band. One of the band members, Clay, went missing years ago, but Gwen thinks she knows where he can be found. The group gets to see the sights of Paris, deals with a variety of pets, and tries to do their best to win the tickets.
Strengths: I'm glad to see Aladdin come out with hardcover copies of some of their popular M!X type titles. Travel stories always do well, and the little bit of romance with Henri is a nice touch. There is a sequel in the offing, Lost in Rome, so that can only be good.
Weaknesses: This was somehow weak. The details of Paris were okay, but the quest and the mystery were pretty predictable. I was hoping for a stronger book, like Jen Malone's At Your Service. The inclusion of Gwen's "song lyrics" was just painful! Still, definitely purchasing.

Hiranandani, Veera. A Passport to Pastries
February 5th 2015 by Grosset & Dunlap

Phoebe has been invited, with her family, to go to Paris to celebrate her friend Camille's birthday. She's very excited, because she is looking forward to all of the good food, and wants to see the Eiffel Tower. Things don't always go her way on the trip, but she does get to visit a pastry shop and drink hot chocolate out of bowls, and generally has a good time, even though her enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of her.
Strengths: I've never really wanted to go to France, but this book almost wants me to! I love that Phoebe's family and friends are supportive of her. These are sort of like Junie B. Jones, with food.
Weaknesses: I get a little tired of Phoebe explaining that she is a foodie. We know. That's the whole point of the book. We don't need to keep reading it!
What I really think: I am starting to worry that my students won't read these, no matter how cute they are, so I will probably not order any more. (Have a few girls working on them-- waiting to see what they think.) Fabulous for beginning readers and elementary students, though!

Elementary Books

Hale, Shannon and Dean, Pham, LeUyen (Illustrations) The Princess in Black.
October 14th 2014 by Candlewick Press

 Princess Magnolia is pink and dainty, but while she is having the nosy Duchess Wigtower over for hot chocolate, she gets a monster alarm and has to run out to a neighboring field to save a herd of goats from being eaten.Duff, the goat herder, is so impressed with her that he fashions a costume for himself as the Goat Avenger, and waits for the next time that the monsters forget about the mighty princess and try to eat his goats.
Strengths: Very delightful; if this had been around when my daughters were young, we would have read it to pieces.
Weaknesses: An EARLY chapter book; I don't know that I can justify buying it, even though I really, really want to!




Lucke, Deb. The Lunch Witch
March 17th 2015 by Papercutz
Preview copy received from the publisher
Grunhilda's business goes under when no one wants to buy magic potions anymore, and she gets fired from her job at the Salem Witch Museum after an altercation with her boss, so she applies to be a lunch lady at a local elementary school. Rumors circulate when the children talk about her horrible cooking, but she manages to elude detection. The entire book will be 180 pages, but the preview edition only covers the first 6 chapters. The illustrations are very dark and creepy, and I can imagine that this would be very popular with readers who have devoured The Lunch Lady cartoons and want to move on to something darker.
That said, I still don't understand why cafeteria food gets such a bad rap. All my parents can do is complain about the food at their retirement home, but if someone cooked my meals for me, I wouldn't be overly particular!