DEATH BY WHOOPEE CUSHION

Eleven-year-old Manya Brown loves science, her best friend, Isaac Mancini, and blending into the background.

She’s not as wild about her parents’ joke shop, their wacky outfits, and all their gross and goofy ideas. When their new product, a whoopee cushion “filled with sulfur-scented gravy,” detonates before they give a presentation at school, killing the custodian, Manya’s parents are arrested for murder. Manya is certain (isn’t she?) that they’d never take a joke that far. So who’s responsible—and who could die next? Grant balances the Brown parents’ silly humor with Manya’s and Isaac’s sincere interest in science—both play a part in unraveling the increasingly dangerous mystery. Manya is a sympathetic protagonist; any middle schooler would be mortified by her loving parents’ over-the-top behavior. As Manya and Isaac set out to prove her parents’ innocence, they’re surrounded by frazzled adult characters, like the defense lawyer who just wants a quiet place to eat her sandwich before heading back to work. The economic reality of keeping a small, struggling business like Pranks-A-Million going grounds the story within the overall goofiness. On the cover, Manya appears white, and Isaac has brown skin and curly black hair.

An enjoyably wacky and science-centered mystery.