Ever since their last case got media attention, people have been asking The Sherlock Society for help with their cases. They set up a website and start going through the proposals. The case they decide to take comes with a giant prize tag - if successful.They're to unmask the vigilante graffiti artist Funky Monkey in hopes that the artist will paint a mural for a local business. The group decides that they will bring the proposal to the artist and Funky Monkey can decide from there.Of course, there is a deadline, and other teams might be working on the same goal. Can the Sherlock Society figure out this newest mystery?
Monday, August 24, 2026
Middle Grade Monday: Art Attack
Monday, May 4, 2026
Middle Grade Review: No Way Never Sisters
Roxy and Meli couldn't be more different. They're not friends - at all. But their parents are in love and are engaged. Roxy and Meli can't believe how fast everything is changing. This summer, they all move in to a new house together. Life isn't the same and they're not happy. They come up with a brilliantly terrible idea. They're going to split up their parents and then their lives will return back to normal.
Monday, April 20, 2026
Middle Grade Review: School for Thieves
Tom has been living on the streets for a long time. He had a mentor who used to tell the most outrageous stories, but he passes away. Tom's mentor taught him. Tom passed along that knowledge to other kids. Kids aren't safe on the streets; it's not long before his found family is snatched up and forced into a workhouse.Luckily, Tom escaped. And because of that, he's offered an opportunity of a lifetime - a chance to go to school. It's not your average school. This one teaches you how to become criminals and spies. At first, Tom hesitates, but then he realizes that once he learns enough, he can return and rescue his friends.But the school has it's own secrets...
Monday, February 9, 2026
Middle Grade Review: Europa
There's a chatter of a major attack coming. Tru asks her team to review the evidence. Her adult agents are looking at an attack on London, but the City Spies think it's happening in Paris. They have a way of looking at things a little bit differently. It helps that they're teenagers. Could this be the work of a threat they thought they contained?
Saturday, September 20, 2025
Review: Mindy Kim and the Fun Family Vacation
Mindy and her family are going on vacation! She's so excited about. She hopes that vacation time with help relax her Dad and Julie; they've been fighting a lot lately. Jeju Island has so many cool spots; she can't wait to see them all. But traveling with a baby is hard. Mindy gets irritated when Charlie causes the plans to change. Will they have any fun?
Monday, August 11, 2025
Review: Hurricane Heist
There's a hurricane coming. School is starting up soon and Alex is worried that it will be the end of the Sherlock Society. The storm brings back memories of Alex's grandfather from 1964. He was helping his father with the hardware store deliveries. They went to a hotel where his Grandfather was friends with the Bell Captain, Doc.A movie was being filmed at the hotel. After the storm passed through in 1964, Doc went missing along with several pieces of jewelry. The storm in the current day damage the hotel and a body is discovered. Alex's Grandfather's not surprised when it turns out to be Doc. He knew his friend never stole the jewelry and ran off. But years later, the trail is cold. Doc was the only suspect. Can the Sherlock Society figure out what really happened all those years ago?
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Picture Book Wednesday: Lily's Dream
* this book was sent for review
Monday, March 31, 2025
Middle Grade Review: Tear This Down
Freya has always loved her hometown; but everything changes on the first history assignment in seventh grade. When researching primary documents, Freya discovers that the founding father of the town was sexist. He didn't believe that women should vote or go to school. Reading his words anger Freya. She no longer believes he's worthy of the town respect. In fact, maybe they should tear his statue down in the middle of the town. When Freya and a new friend share their idea, not everyone supports them. In fact, some people are downright rude. Not even her parents think it's a good idea...
Thursday, February 6, 2025
Middle Grade Review: London Calling
Monday, January 27, 2025
Review: Away
In the middle of the night, people in Colorado are rounded up and told to evacuate. They are loaded up on buses after gathering one bag to take with them. They're not told why they're being forced to leave.They're bused to former camp, not in use since the Cold War. They're forced to give up their cell phones and electronics. There a journalist meets a film maker meets a future doctor meets a teen who grew up on a ranch. The four teens form a bond between them. They interview people in the camp.Time passes. They still haven't been told the reason behind their evacuation, only that it's not safe for them. Their homes are in the contamination zone. But to the teens, nothing makes sense. They start questioning what they know - but more importantly what they don't know. Could there be something more to the story?
Monday, December 23, 2024
Middle Grade Review: Unraveled
While his friends faced their own challenges in Stellarlune, Keefe was in the human world. Where did he go, who did he see…and what shocking secrets were revealed to him? - Summary from the publisherMy Thoughts: This book takes place after the last book - but it's from Keefe's point of view during his time in the human world. I like how he struggled with human moments that are different than what elves do. Lord HunkyHair is one of my favorite characters - because of his humor and wit. There are lots of secrets that's required to keep. I loved the ending and I'm eagerly awaiting for the next installment.
Cover Thoughts: Cute
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Review: Mindy Kim Big Sister
Mindy Kim's stepmom - Julie is pregnant. The baby is arriving any moment. They want the gender of the baby to be surprised. Mindy isn't sure what to expect. She's been the only child for so long. She asks her friends for advice.Once the baby arrives, things are hard. The baby cries all the time. But Mindy isn't sure how to help. She wants to play with her brother, but he's too small for most interactions. Can she be the best big sister?
Monday, September 2, 2024
Author Interview: James Ponti
Did Al Capone really bury one million dollars somewhere in Florida?
My understanding is that he actually buried keys to safety deposit boxes. (I eliminated that step to make it just the money so that it would be more immediate.) I also made up the treasure map; but the rest of it is true including the niece having him hypnotized and digging up all the land on the estate. (Funny side note – I planned to include the Capone house as part of the story, but the day I went there to scout and research, it was literally being torn down. It was more than one hundred years old, but they picked that day to make me rewrite the plot. Instead, I have they come there as it’s being torn down)
What was your first summer job?
My very first one was selling food at Sea World. (I worked at the Snack Encounter, which was right next to the Shark Encounter.) But every summer after that, I worked at Walt Disney World on the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes. I would stand in the front of a giant canoe, dressed a coonskin cap and tell bad jokes to guests paddling through the summer heat. (“You see that burning cabin over there? That’s where my girlfriend lives. Well, actually we broke up, so she’s just my old flame. She used to work her but she got fired. It burns me up to think about it.”) It was a great job that taught me a ton about comedy writing. I’m still friends with many of my fellow canoers and we greet each other with the call “Yip-yip-yow,” which played on a recorded loop in the back of the Rivers of America.
That's too funny. I love the "Dad" jokes.
What fun tidbits of research didn't make it into the book?
I hung out with a marine biologist at the University of Miami because the father in the book is a marine biologist at the University of Miami. Late one night, we were with his grad students at the nursery where they try to grow coral and they played Marvin Gaye over loudspeakers to get the coral “in the mood.” I could not figure out a way to work that into the plot.
There was another one that I couldn’t figure out, but have since added it to book two. The Bee Gees lived in Miami Beach and when they drove over the Tuttle Causeway, the sound of their tires going over the seams in the road created a rhythm that inspired the beat of the song Jive Talkin’. Originally, it was even title Drive Talkin’ because of where they first heard it.
I can't wait for book 2!
Do you have a favorite fictional detective/story?
So, so many. My first was Encyclopedia Brown, whose stories inspired me greatly. My favorite author is Michael Connelly and I love his main character, Harry Bosch. My wife and I are addicted to British mystery shows and my favorite detectives there are Christopher Foyle from Foyle’s War, Jimmy Perez from Shetland, and Vera Stanhope from Vera.
Which W would you choose to research?
I am fascinated by character and personality, so for me it would always be Who.
Monday, August 26, 2024
Middle Grade Review: Framed
Florian has just moved to Washington D.C. and finds a new friend in the neighborhood. He teaches his new friend Margaret TOAST (The theory of all small things). They use this theory to impress the FBI when paintings go missing at a museum. Can they solve the case?
Monday, August 19, 2024
Author Interview: Gayle Foreman
ABOUT THE BOOK
Would you rather be flattered or told something in brutal honesty?
One of my favorite sayings is, “The truth will set you free but first it will make you miserable.” Maybe that’s why I don’t trust flattery as much as I do criticism? Though I do enjoy flattery, too.
It is so much easier to trust criticism.
What point in history would you like to live through?
That’s such a hard question because our understanding of historical times is so very limited because it’s all conjecture. I think I’d like to hopscotch through a bunch of eras, less to experience say the Jazz Age or Enlightenment than to test the hypothesis I’ve developed while writing books with historical elements that people are people are people, with similar desires and traits and flaws, no matter where and when they live.
I like the idea of going to different eras. I would love to travel to Regency England or Renaissance Italy.
What is a fond memory of your grandparent?
My grandparents all died by the time I was a teenager, and I deeply regret that I didn’t get to know them as fully-rounded people, which is maybe why I set my latest novel Not Nothing, in an assisted-living facility and chose a 107-year-old man to narrate it. The memories I do have tend to be small moments: having Shake-and-Bake chicken and Pepperidge Farm cake for Shabbat Dinner at my grandparents’ Hollywood apartment or the news clippings my grandmother would send to me.
Ha! My grandmother would cut out articles of my accomplishments. She created a photo album for me. Some of those are in there. It was very sweet. I had very fond memories of my grandparents.
What is your best thing you've accomplished?
My family first. Next is something I don’t talk about publicly, which is maybe what makes it the most profound. Sorry to be so vague but to quote Taylor Swift, “I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian because I care.”
Ha! You will tell everyone if the time is right. It's a very important question and makes me want to be a better person.
If you could interview anyone - who would it be and why?
My grandparents. I have befriended and interviewed several elderly people throughout the years—I think I’m drawn to old folks to fill my grandparent gap—and the stories they tell, the history they’ve lived through, blows my mind. But so does the realization that even though things were very different in, say, the 1930s or 1950s, the human experience was very much the same. I take comfort in that.
Yes! You capture this beautifully in the book!
Monday, August 5, 2024
Middle Grade Review: The Sherlock Society
Zoe and Alex, sister and brother, are supposed to get a job this summer. They veto baby-sitting, dog walking, and lawn mowing. Instead, they decide to open their own detective agency. Two friends of Alex's join them. As they'll need an adult to drive them places, they coerce their grandfather to help.Their grandfather worked for years as a reporter. They go through his old case files to discover a cold case to work on. They vote on the cold case of Al Capone and the missing million dollars. As they attempt to uncover the treasure, they stumble upon an illegal dump site of contaminated waste.The team decides to switch gears and focus on who is dumping the waste. After getting stone-walled, they need to come up with a better way to uncover the truth. But can they root out this conspiracy?
Monday, June 24, 2024
Middle Grade Review: Perfect Revenge
Abby was shocked to learn that Ava and Olivia are attending Saddlehill Academy. They seem excited to befriend her and happy to join the team. But things might not be all that they seem.Abby's too busy worrying about her grades to deal with more team drama. If her grades don't improve in the next few weeks, her father will pull her from the riding team. Abby will be devastated if that happens, especially as she's waiting for word on the clinic from Sasha Silvers and Heather Fox.
Monday, June 3, 2024
Middle Grade Review: Falling Hard
Abby and her teammates are finding their way back to being a team after the drama from the last book! They're not in the clear with their instructor yet, but they are making progress. They do have to apologize to everyone.Once that's finished, they can go back to focusing on the upcoming shows, especially one at Canterwood Crest! Since it's near Halloween, there will be a spooky element.Even better, they learn about a clinic being run by the Sasha Silver. It's very competitive, but Abby dreams of winning a spot.Abby's struggling with all the pressure from riding, creating the perfect video for the clinic, and fixing things with her friends. They seem to be getting along just fine without her and excluding her from their hangouts. It gives her a pit in her stomach and makes her doubt everything - even the feelings she has for Mila.Will Abby find her balance again?
My Thoughts: Once I finally got my hands on this book, I tore through it! I loved every second of it. I loved the friendship drama and how everything turned out. I loved going back to Canterwood Crest. Even more, I loved catching up with old favorite characters from that series. There's a lot of drama in this series that keeps me turning the pages quickly. I love the friendships and the descriptions of everything. I really really want to attend Saddlehill Academy. I loved the Halloween and fall portions of this story - especially the costumes. It seems like so much fun! Also, I loved how Jessica Burkhart writes about representation and how it matters!
Monday, February 12, 2024
James Ponti Author Event: Mission Manhattan
One Easter Egg: He writes song lyrics into each book
Easter Egg #2 The head of MI6 is also in the Framed books (Which I still need to read)
He doesn't have a favorite character, because he doesn't want the books to become unbalanced. Each character has one of his qualities. But Kat is the closest to him.
We heard a funny TOAST story.
Here he is reading the first little bit of the book.
Thanks to a goodreads review, he stats each book off with a bang.
It was such a fun night. We didn't end up getting another picture together. This is from the last tour:
We talked a little bit about NYPL. I love the fun fact that is in the book. It's fascinating and no I'm not going to spoil it.
I was lucky enough to get an early copy of the book. I love this series - there's so much action, danger, and drama. You can read my review here.
Another great night! I was so happy I was able to attend.
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