Middle Grade Review: Capital Chase

Twins race to find the thief stealing valuable historical artifacts before their family’s framed for the crimes.

Ten-year-old Ike Carter has committed large chunks of American history to memory. That’s what happens when you’re a genius who loves the past. His twin, Iris, prefers the present (aka reality) . She’s an elite athlete, dominating the competition thanks to her wicked-sharp spatial awareness.

During the opening night of a new exhibit at their mom’s boutique museum in Washington, D.C., Ike and Iris inadvertently stumble onto a robbery in progress. A girl not much older than them is stealing a miniature portrait of George Washington from the collection[ML1] [ASW2] [LMD3] . It's only the first in a string of crimes, all focused on items that were once gifted by the Marquis de Lafayette to his American friends. With some help from the National Archives Research Center, the twins puzzle out the culprit’s next targets, and are soon hot on the trail of the mystery girl.

But their efforts also put them in the crosshairs of the FBI’s Art Crime team, who suspect their family is involved. If the twins can’t catch the real perp as they target the final item, it’ll be game over. - Summary from the publisher

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this start to a new series. I loved how the twins were opposites of each: one was the brain and one was athletic. I read this on the plane - lots of action and lots of danger. I liked learning more about Lafayette. I loved the nerdy moments of research and fun facts. Of course I loved how they went into special libraries with rare books and artifacts. There were several National Treasure jokes in this book. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

Cover Thoughts: Love it! 

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended. Hand this one out to readers of The Genius Files by Dan Gutman or Framed by James Ponti.