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MURDER IS BAD MANNERS

Name: MURDER IS BAD MANNERS
Author: Robin Stevens
ISBN: 978-1-4814-2212-3

From the Wells & Wong Mystery series , Vol. 1

by Robin Stevens ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2015

An irresistible English import with sequels to come.

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A pair of eighth-grade girls, admirers of Holmes and Watson, expose a real murderer in a tony English boarding school in 1934.

This splendid school story/murder mystery opens with a map and a helpful cast of characters: the staff and students of Deepdean School, where Hazel Wong, daughter of an Anglophile Hong Kong banker, and Daisy Wells, golden-haired member of the English nobility, have formed the Wells & Wong Detective Society. From Part One, “The Discovery of the Body,” to Part Eight, “The Detective Society Solves the Case,” Hazel, as the society’s secretary, worriedly but methodically recounts the case. Her account begins on Oct. 30, 1934, one day after finding Miss Bell's dead body, runs through the end of November, when the murderer is arrested, and wraps up during their Christmas holiday. Her narrative is punctuated with occasional handwritten updates of their suspect list. Hazel’s outsider status allows her to comment humorously on the curious customs of the English world, while cheerful Daisy’s need to know and her privileged assumption that everyone will love her and do her bidding earns them access to places and information that help them solve their first serious case. There are clues, red herrings and suspenseful chases galore, as well as heaps of boarding school trivia that amuse and delight.

An irresistible English import with sequels to come. (Mystery. 10-14)

Pub Date: April 21, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4814-2212-3

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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ONCE UPON A CRIME
by Robin Stevens

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CREAM BUNS AND CRIME
by Robin Stevens

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THE GUGGENHEIM MYSTERY
by Robin Stevens

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THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)