Red Blazer Girls books 2 and 3

by Micheal Beil

The Vanishing Violin (AR book level: 4.4)
The Mistaken Masterpiece (AR book level: 4.7)

Since I first posted by the Red Blazer Girls book series, I have read book 2 The Vanishing Violin and book 3 The Mistaken Masterpiece.  I wanted to update you on my thoughts on the series.  This series follow four seventh grade girls who after solving the mystery in "The Ring of Rocamodour" set up the Red Blazer Girls Detective Agency.  In the Vanishing Violin, there is robbery of a violin that the girls discover was already stolen once and they help the sisters' at their school discover who is cleaning the school after hours.  The Mistaken Masterpiece has the girls helping one of the priests figure out if the painting his father inherited is real or not.  It also has Sophie dog sitting for a famous actor from a vampire movie.

I liked these two books as much as I did the first one.  These ones didn't seem as realistic as the first one.  The girls still use different subjects or techniques to figure out secret messages and codes.  There is a fourth book coming out October 2012. 


See my review of the first book, Ring of Rocamodour here:  http://laurenlovesbooks.blogspot.com/2011/12/red-blazer-girls-ring-of-rocamadour.html

The Grimm Legacy

by Polly Shulman

AR book level: 4.0

 Elizabeth needs a job so she asks her social studies teacher what job he thinks she would like.  He says the library would be good.  She goes to the library and takes a test.  She passes and gets the job.  It's a weird library because it has very few books, instead of checking out books, you check out objects.  There is a Grimm section in the library and Elizabeth has to work at the library for awhile before she is trusted enough to get a key to that section.  She goes to get something for her friend from the Grimm section and she gets locked in because she doesn't know the password to get back out.  When she finally gets out, one of the librarians tells her to go to the head office and she gets her key.

After talking to her co-workers, she finds out there are items being stolen from the Grimm section.  In the book, she tries to figure out who the thief is.

I liked this book because it's very funny and magical.  I really like fairy tale themes.  This was a modern fairy tale that included stuff from the original Grimm Fairy Tales like Snow White's mirror that showed a different version of herself, a mermaid's comb that made your hair silky when you used it, and Aladdin's magic carpet.

Juliet Dove: Queen of Love

by Bruce Coville

AR Book Level:  5.0

Juliet Dove is a sixth grade girl who is teased about walking to school with her neighbor because everyone says that they are boyfriend and girlfriend.  She gets mad, says rude comments about the girls who tease her that she can't stop herself from saying, and runs away.  She ran so far that she got lost and found herself on a street she didn't know.  She enters a magic store on the end of the street.  When she goes in, a women from the back of the shop gives her a mysterious necklace.  The necklace turns out to be magical and makes all the boys in her class fall in love with her.  Juliet finds out that the woman who gave it to her was the Greek goddess of discord, Eris.

 The necklace is stuck on Juliet's neck.  Juliet tries to figure out how to remove it with the help of other Greek goddess and Cupid.  She is also helped by the magic shop's real owner's two talking rats.

I liked this book because of the two talking rats.  This book is full of humor.  I like Greek goddesses.  I really like how they tied in the Greek mythology with a funny story.  I liked that this book was elegant and exciting.  I didn't want it to stop because I wanted to keep listening to it so much. I listened to this as an audiobook.  It had a variety of cast which made it very cool to listen too.

I would recommend this for people that like adventure and mythology.  This book is one of the books in a magic shop series, but it's the only one in the series I have read.

39 Clues

Books Read:
Maze of Bones
One False Note
The Sword Thief

When Grace Cahill died, her grandchildren Amy and Dan Cahill were sad.  In Grace's will, she said there would be a competition for 39  clues.  If you wanted to be in the competition, you had to give away your $1 million inheritance.  Amy and Dan think about what they could buy with the money, but all the sudden they think of the contest and decide to join.  They race against six other teams, made up of distant relatives.  By following the clues, Amy and Dan can unlock a powerful secret.  Along the way they learn that their family is related to many famous people including Ben Franklin, Mozart, and even ninjas.  The other family members are all trying to get the Cahills.

I liked these books because they make you learn very interesting things while also making you think "Oh what's going to happen next, I hope I can keep reading."  Two of the characters are very funny - Nelly, their babysitter/Au pair, and Dan.  I am looking forward to reading the next book "Beyond the Grave".

Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator

Book Read:
Gild Joyce, Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison (AR Book Level:  6.5)


Gilda Joyce is a smart, fashionable psychic investigator or so she thinks.  Really, Gilda Joyce is a psychic investigator in training with red hair and lots of freckles.  At the end of the last day of school, Gilda's teacher goes around and asks what everyone is going to do this summer.  Gilda who is planning on spying on plaid pants (the guy who works at the store) makes up a lie and says she is going to San Fransisco to write a novel.  There's only one way to make Gilda's "lie" not a lie - to actually do it.  Somehow Gilda manages to get her long lost relative to invite her to San Fransisco.  Her long lost relatives house is actually a mansion, and did I mention the mansion is haunted?  Gilda helps her cousin investigate her aunt's death that happened years ago.  And yes, in the end she manages to write a novel.

Gilda manages to get herself into a lot of trouble and she is pretty clumsy.  This book was very entertaining.  If someone reads to you and you close your eyes, you feel like you are watching a movie.  There are more books in this series and I would like to read them when I have more time.

Red Blazer Girls: Ring of Rocamadour

By Michael Beil
AR book level:  4.4

The Red Blazer Girls are a group of friends who are seventh graders.  They got their red blazers as part of their Catholic school uniform when they started seventh grade.  Sophie sees an old lady and screams.  The woman appears in a upstairs window by the church.  Sophie and her friends decide to investigate who the lady is.  The lady's father hid a 14th birthday present for his granddaughter the day before he died many years ago.  The lady sends Sophie and her friends on a treasure hunt to find what he hid to give back to her daughter Caroline.

Throughout the book, they use real subject skills to figure out the clues.  They use math, religion, literature, and other subjects to find the gift.  I liked this book because it had long and funny chapter names.  I liked that it seemed like Sophie was really telling you the story.  You'll like this book if you like mystery with a twist.  This book is kind of harder to read.  I had to ask my mom questions about the math and religion and some of the words in the book.  There are two other books in this series.  I want to read the other books soon. 

PS This book has love!

The Sisters Grimm: Fairy Tale Detectives

Book Read:
The Sisters Grimm: Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley (AR book level 5.2)

Two sisters named Daphne and Sabrina go through a hard time where their parents disappear.  They are orphans for two years and have escaped from many different houses.  Then all of the sudden, an old lady claims that she is their grandmother.  Sabrina and Daphne figure out that they are descendents of the Brothers Grimm.  In the first book, they learn they are fairy tale detectives and that they need to save their long lost grandma from a giant.

I liked this book because it used the classic Grimm fairy tales and a hint of mystery.  It was funny.  I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series.