Title: The Tiara on the Terrace
Author: Kristen Kittscher
Illustrator: Marcos Calos
Month/Year Published: Expected publication date January 2016
You May Know Her: As the author of the first book in the series, The Wig in the Window (reviewed by me here).
You May Find Her: On her blog or on twitter @KKittscher
The Delta/Plus: It's been a long wait, but middle school-aged BFFs Grace Yang and Sophie Young were probably just busy wrapping up their latest mystery before typing up the case notes for their loyal readers. Author Kristen Kittscher does not disappoint with her second adventure featuring the pair. It not only includes secret codes and suspicious emails, but friendships that change and evolve based on time and circumstances.
There is no shortage of sleuthing and mayhem in The Tiara on the Terrace, but this time Kittscher leaves school behind, setting this mystery on Luna Vista's Winter Sun Festival float route (which resembles a slightly less elaborate version of the Rose Bowl Parade albeit with a twist of murder). When the winter solstice festival organizer Jim Steptoe becomes, well, shall we say, S'Mored, Grace and Sophie cannot resist their passion for solving crimes, becoming embedded detectives in the Float's Royal Court.
In The Wig in the Window tech-expert Trista Bottoms was one of my favorite characters so I was happy to see her get her moment in the Luna Vista Sun...Festival. Grace and Sophie seem to have decided that three heads are better than two when tracking down the killer of the Festival organizer and, in this case, three is not a crowd.
One observation on muuuurder: I felt that The Wig in the Window, due to the circumstances of the suspect's...er...prior...er...experiences (hashtag no spoilers!), the book was a bit more appropriate for MS-aged students and above. In the case of The Tiara on the Terrace, I would feel comfortable adding it to my elementary school collection and recommending it to my fourth and fifth graders. And of course we have to ask: will there be a book three, Ms. Kittscher? This reader, for one, is looking forward to more adventures and to learning more details about the lives of Grace, Sophie and Trista (and perhaps Rod?).
{Thank you to the author for providing me with a free ARC of The Wig in the Window, no strings attached.}
There is no shortage of sleuthing and mayhem in The Tiara on the Terrace, but this time Kittscher leaves school behind, setting this mystery on Luna Vista's Winter Sun Festival float route (which resembles a slightly less elaborate version of the Rose Bowl Parade albeit with a twist of murder). When the winter solstice festival organizer Jim Steptoe becomes, well, shall we say, S'Mored, Grace and Sophie cannot resist their passion for solving crimes, becoming embedded detectives in the Float's Royal Court.
In The Wig in the Window tech-expert Trista Bottoms was one of my favorite characters so I was happy to see her get her moment in the Luna Vista Sun...Festival. Grace and Sophie seem to have decided that three heads are better than two when tracking down the killer of the Festival organizer and, in this case, three is not a crowd.
One observation on muuuurder: I felt that The Wig in the Window, due to the circumstances of the suspect's...er...prior...er...experiences (hashtag no spoilers!), the book was a bit more appropriate for MS-aged students and above. In the case of The Tiara on the Terrace, I would feel comfortable adding it to my elementary school collection and recommending it to my fourth and fifth graders. And of course we have to ask: will there be a book three, Ms. Kittscher? This reader, for one, is looking forward to more adventures and to learning more details about the lives of Grace, Sophie and Trista (and perhaps Rod?).
{Thank you to the author for providing me with a free ARC of The Wig in the Window, no strings attached.}
