Junior Philip Marlowes or Sam Spades—or readers fed up with schoolyard miscreants—will welcome the exploits of this hard-boiled, seen-it-all seventh-grade “hall cop.” Punctuated by recorded interviews with a startled guidance counselor, incident reports filed by his indefatigable, true-blue partner and occasional diary entries and articles written by the school’s gung-ho newspaper editor, the novel tracks how a disgraced Griff (he’s stripped of his badge at one point) and his friends eventually uncover a counterfeit hall-pass ring and bring down some nefarious perps. Griff’s devotion to duty is so uncompromising it’s comical, though not always credible. The first-person voice isn’t consistent, and some of Griff’s potboiler reflections will fall on ears unprimed to noir-ish ’40s-era detective patter. Still, this is a fast-paced read characterized by knowing, kid-friendly humor, and middle-grade readers will enjoy getting to know Hallway Patrolman Carver. (Mystery. 10-12)
