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Monday, September 30, 2024

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.

6 comments:

  1. Carter and Iris sound like really cool characters, and I always love mysteries. I hope my library gets this one in. Thanks.

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  2. It does have a Genius Files look to it. Sounds like fun, I like the idea of bits of information tucked in there and of course National Treasure jokes are a must. Thanks for sharing it. Happy MMGM

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  3. This does sound like a good book to tuck away for my next airplane trip. Great characters and story line. Thanks for featuring your review on this week's MMGM.

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  4. This one sounds like a lot of fun. I do love a good mystery. I'll look for it. Thanks for the review.

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  5. This sounds like a fun book! I hadn't heard of this title, but it looks like a wild story. Thanks for sharing your review. :)

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  6. With great characters, a mystery, libraries and rare artefacts, this book sounds like it has all the ingredients required for a fun read! The National Treasure jokes are a nice bonus! Thanks for the recommendation!

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