Room with a Review: Gargoyles Gone A.W.O.L

Title:  Gargoyles Gone A.W.O.L

Author:  Clémentine Beauvais

Illustrator:  Sarah Horne

Month/Year Published:  U.S. Edition expected publication date 5/15/15

You May Know Her:  If you live in the United Kingdom where the third Sesame Seade mystery is already on shelves. BTW, she's also an academic at Cambridge and she writes in French as well.  Wow!

Review You May Not Have Seen:  Since her books are already popular in the United Kingdom, here's the Kirkus review of her first Sesame Seade book published in the U.S.   

The Review

Okay, prepare for some name dropping, which I rarely get to do, so please indulge me.  About three months ago I was on Twitter and I asked my tweeps for some recommendations for Brit Kid Lit mysteries. So my tweep {here's where the name dropping begins} Robin Stevens {author of MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE, soon to be released in the US as MURDER IS BAD MANNERS} directed me to Ms. Beauvais and the Sesame Seade mysteries.  I tucked that away for future reference.  

Fast forward last week to the National Council of Teachers of English conference.  I was meandering my way through the exhibit hall when I came to a tiny booth {here is where my name dropping fails me - I have no idea what booth I was at - I am SO SORRY booth!!} where I picked up a cute little book solely on the cover art.  Then my eye traveled to the author's name...Beauvais...Beauvais...THINK!  "Oh," I said.  "Not what you want?" said the lovely lady at The Booth.  "No!  This is British!!"  "Yes," said mystery lady, "it is!  I'm very impressed that you knew that!"  And then I skipped off with my copy of GARGOYLES GONE A.W.O.L. not believing my luck!!  {I even tweeted Ms. Beauvais to let her know <--author name drop}

But enough about me.  Welcome to Gargoyles Gone A.W.O.L, the second book in the Sesame Seade Mystery series.  Sesame Seade is really Sophie Seade who lives in Cambridge (England, not Mass.) with her parents who seem to be lumps but are really ultimately quite loving.  She has two chums that she pals around with {either on roller skates or a too tall bicycle} and this time the mystery involves missing gargoyles.  I was a sucker for this book from basically the first page where there is a MAP {who cannot love a book with a map - although is it too late to add The Senate House? - wink, wink} and the fact that there is British jargon, slang, what-have-you, tossed around throughout the book.  I'm glad this was left in the US version because frankly, my readers can handle it and honestly, who doesn't love adding a little Brit Lit Lingo to your every day vocabulary.  Add a grouchy cat gone suspiciously docile and a red herring hornet and you have GARGOYLES GONE A.W.O.L. {Plus something else that will make most of GGA readers go AWWWWW but even to mention it will give away part of the mystery.}

I thoroughly enjoyed this light-hearted, fast-paced mystery that shall find a place on my library bookshelves for my readers who already enjoy those eclectic and adventuresome Americans Judy Moody and Gooney Bird Greene.

**This review was based on an Advance Reader's Copy I received free of charge from...SO SORRY...at NCTE.  

Room with a Review: The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher

Title:  The Wig in the Window

Year Published:  Available June 18, 2013

Author:  Kristen Kittscher

You May Know Her: As a debut author!

You May Find Her: At her website and on twitter at @kkittscher.

Review You May Not Have Seen:  The author being interrogated by two precocious investigators!

The Delta/Plus

IS THAT BLOOD?!

The Wig in the Window is debut author Kristen Kittscher's forthcoming middle-grade mystery and like most good tales of intrigue, this one is a page-turner!

Seventh grade "spies" Sophie (public school attendee) Young and Grace (home schooled BFF) Yang have made it a habit of putting their noses in...er...investigating their neighbor's business and this time it seems, they have tangled with the wrong perp.  Dr. Charlotte Agford, Sophie's very own middle school guidance counselor, exudes just the right amount of "ick" that gives Sophie and Grace massive heebie-jeebies.  But could it be that Dr. Agford is just "Dr. Awkward" when it comes to counseling her young students or is there more to the story?

I will not lie.  Like Sophie and Grace's first encounter with the doings of Dr. Agford, I based my opinion of The Wig in the Window on appearances (the cover), with not much evidence to support my rabid...er...polite request for an ARC.  The alliterative title was also a draw.  But in this case (hahaha), judging a book by its cover was not a false lead. The mystery starts out with a rather embarrassing comedy of errors which is definitely a red herring: people, this book gets serious and by the end I was doing that thing I shouldn't do...kinda skimming the text because I couldn't take the suspense.  WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?  {Oh, assuming anything DOES happen - not spoiling a mystery is so hard!}

Along with being a fine mystery, I also liked the theme of friendship throughout the book.  As so many middle-school students know, friendships evolve, change, and some dissolve over time.  Sophie and Grace go through similar ups and downs with which many students, especially girls, will identify.  The character of Trista Bottoms was one of my favorites in the book and there again, Kittscher reminds us that appearances can be deceiving.

So in wrapping up the case, no pressure, Kristen, but please get on with book number two in the series. We'll be waiting!

This book gets five out of five dog ears from me!

{Thank you to Harper Collins for providing me with a free ARC of The Wig in the Window, no strings attached.}

***Update!  In the spirit of passing it forward, leave a comment on this post with the title of your favorite MG mystery and I will randomly draw a name.  The winner will receive the copy of my well-worn ARC!  Wheeee!  Please leave comments by Friday, April 26th, 8:00 p.m., Eastern.***

Rebecca Stead's Liar & Spy: Another Jewel in the Crown

Title:  Liar & Spy

Year Published:  Available August 7, 2012

Author:  Rebecca Stead

You May Know Her: As the author of the Newberry Award-Winning book When You Reach Me.

You May Find Her: At her website and on twitter at @rebstead.

Review You May Not Have Seen:  A review from the Katie on the Teens at the Arlington Public Library (TATAL) blog.

The Delta/Plus

Liar & Spy, Rebecca Stead's forthcoming work of middle grade fiction, takes place in a different borough from Stead's book previous work, When You Reach Me, but it is, just the same, like a love letter to her beloved New York.  

Georges, a seventh-grader, has just relocated with his father and mother to an apartment, not far from their former house.  Money is the issue, and Georges and his mother seem to pass like ships in the night as she works double shifts as a nurse at the hospital.  Soon Georges meets a fellow apartment-dweller, Safer, who enlists his help in a rather Rear Window-esque situation that involves a man in black and the lobby surveillance camera.

Weaving its way through the book is Georges relationship with his father, his mother, and kids of the wearing, bullying sort.  As the book continues, you realize that indeed Mr. X is the least of this book's mysteries, but that is classic Rebecca Stead.

Liar & Spy is a deceptively simple book, both in its length and in its lean prose.  This, I believe, is one of Rebecca Stead's great talents. But of course her books are extremely intricate, slowly revealing themselves, as the reader peels back the layers.

Many of my fifth graders picked up When You Reach Me after I glowingly book talked it to them three years ago (I had predicted it would win the Newbery - please, please, hold your applause).  This year, I plan to read Liar & Spy to my fifth grade lunch bunch.  I cannot wait to see the looks on their faces as they hang on every detail, find connections to their own lives, and as the book comes to its powerful, yet low-key (can that be?), conclusion.

Liar & Spy will take its place on my bookshelf next to When You Reach Me as a gem to be read again and again.

This book gets five out of five dog ears from me!

15 Second Sell in the Stacks

(This is when I'm in the stacks, a student shows me a book and says, "Have you read this, Ms. B.?"  I have about 15 seconds to "sell" it.)

"Liar & Spy is by my favorite author, Rebecca Stead.  This is a story about a boy names Georges who moves into a new apartment and is quickly recruited by a neighbor to join a spy club.  The two of them together try to get to the bottom of a mystery involving a suspicious-looking man in the building, named Mr. X.  All along, Georges is pretty lonely as his mom works long hours at the hospital and his dad tries to drum up some work after having lost his job.  Not to mention, the bullies at school play a mean game of dodge ball.  You'll love this book."

Thank you to Random House for providing me with a free ARC of Liar & Spy, no strings attached.