FINDING THE FORGER

This second installment in a series of mysteries featuring Bianca Balducci, 15-year-old detective wannabe, has the feisty sophomore involved in tracking down an art thief. The mystery takes second place in this story, providing a support to a plot primarily concerned with humor and relationships. Bianca risks losing boyfriend Doug as she allows jealousy of her best friend Kerrie—who is spending altogether too much time with Doug—to interfere with both relationships. Meanwhile, Bianca meets handsome, sexy, and very British Neville, the son of a wealthy member of the board of the local art museum, where someone has been replacing valuable modern art with forgeries. Sternberg throws in a couple of nice red herrings along with some action sequences that make the story satisfying, but keeps her focus on the kind of humor that should appeal to high-school readers. (Fiction. 12-15)