SUZI CLUE

In her first novel for young adults, journalist Kehm serves up a formulaic whodunit starring an over-caffeinated Seattle teen whose streak of pink hair signifies her spunk. Suzi Clue, quirky freshman and budding sleuth, can’t resist the temptation to figure out who is playing cruel and painful pranks on the prom-queen court at Mountain High. When all of the candidates drop out of the race, fearing for their personal safety, Suzi nominates herself in order to draw the attacker’s fire. Suzi’s fearless tenacity and independence will endear her to readers, and Kehm’s sly sense of humor gives the story a few entertaining touches—the “youngest and feistiest teacher” at Suzi’s school is her Spanish instructor, Ms. Picante, for instance. But Kehm’s clumsy phrasing detracts from the story, and her characters are drawn with broad strokes—the popular blond cheerleader, the hapless nerd, the wisecracking best friend—or minimally developed, like Suzi’s exchange-student crush. Despite several red herrings, the eventual unmasking of the culprit holds no surprises. (Fiction. 12 & up)