Monday 26 January 2009

I So Don’t Do Mysteries

Happy Lunar New Year! We are now in the Year of the Ox, and I sense a stabilising influence already.

I have not researched the significance of the Year of the Ox; the influence of which I speak is only my interpretation of information received from the telepathic highways.

A down to earth fact, however, is that Barrie Summy’s debut novel, I So Don’t Do Mysteries, is a totally fantastic read.


From the flap:

So here I am spending spring break in California with my best friend, Junie. Our chaperone is a teenager, like us. And soon I’ll get to hang out with the coolest, cutest boy in the Southwest. Life is so good.

Except I should tell you that I’m not in San Diego for fun. Even though I’m a normal person who likes normal stuff—friends, clothes, the mall—I’m supposed to be solving a mystery, one that involves a rhino heist and a crazy chief. And I have to do it because my supercop mom is counting on me. Did I mention she’s a ghost? A ghost who can make contact with only one person. Me, Sherry Holmes Baldwin. My mom is flunking out of the Academy of Spirits, and if I don’t help her, she’ll be banished to an afterlife for ghost failures.

But . . . I so don’t do mysteries.



Barrie has an energetic and catchy voice. It is infectious. And that, together with well-drawn characters, a fabulous plot, and truly great pace, kept me turning and turning the pages. Which meant I stayed awake far too late, too often!

After 30 pages, I wanted to be Sherry’s best friend. (I still do.) And here comes more praise ... I laughed out loud so many times!! This is one of the wittiest middle grade novels I've read.

I So Don’t Mysteries is fun, warm, and uplifting.

It might even have cured my cold. :)

8 comments:

Fox Lee said...

Ying says it should be good for writers : )

Mary said...

Natalie - that is excellent news! :)

Carrie Harris said...

That sounds like my kind of book. I'll have to pick it up.

I'm an ox, which totally doesn't fit with my personality, but at least it means that this is my year. Gosh, I hope so.

Cate Gardner said...

Another one for my list.

Barrie said...

Mary, you are such a sweetheart! Thank you, thank you for this wonderful review!

Mary said...

Carrie - such a fortuitous sign! My crystal ball already saw good things for you this year. Now it's confirmed! :)

Cate - I promise you will laugh out loud. :)

Barrie - you’re welcome! And I can hardly wait for I So Don’t Do Spooky! (I miss my friend, Sherry. ;) )

Travis Erwin said...

I'm better than halfway through it now and I agree it is a great book regardless of your age.

Mary said...

Travis - absolutely! :)