My Secret Guide to Paris

December 15, 2014
Eleven-year-old Nora is heartbroken when her Grandma Sylvia is killed suddenly in an accident. For as long as Nora can remember, Grandma Sylvia has regaled her with tales of Paris’s magic, and they had always planned to travel there together. Then Nora discovers that Grandma Sylvia has left behind a stack of envelopes to be opened in Paris, a map, plane tickets, and a locked box (the key to which Nora is certain is in Paris). It takes some persuasion, but soon Nora is Paris-bound with her mother and teenage brother. With the help of her new British friend Phoebe, Nora follows Grandma Sylvia’s letters on a treasure hunt that takes her from John-Paul Hévin’s chocolate shop to the Musée de l’Orangerie. This love letter to the City of Light will have readers believing that everything’s better in Paris. Schroeder (the Charmed Life series) lets the city’s romance shine in a thoughtful story, laced with mystery and French vocabulary, about losing family and gaining individuality in a place where curiosity can bloom. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sarah Crowe, Harvey Klinger.

December 1, 2014
After the death of her beloved grandmother, a girl travels to Paris with her mother and finds solace and resolution.Grandma Sylvia's promised 12th birthday gift to the City of Lights is set aside when she is killed in a tragic accident. Compounding her grief, Nora is angry that her mother doesn't appear sufficiently upset. While sorting affairs in Grandma's apartment, Nora discovers three tickets to Paris meant for her, Sylvia and her mother. Also included are a map and instructions for Nora to take several envelopes and a locked box on the trip to be opened in sequence, and Nora realizes it must be a kind of treasure hunt. She decides to keep the instructions, envelopes and box hidden from her mother. When they reach Paris (Nora's brother takes the third ticket), Nora is afraid her mother will not allow her to go to the places outlined in Grandma's instructions, so the girl goes without her. She quickly learns that her mother was intended to be included, so the two of them follow Grandma's pre-planned and gift-filled journey, repairing and strengthening their relationship along the way. Nora's hopeful, open-hearted character is beautifully depicted. Plotwise, though, the story is a bit of a letdown. Though the ending provides a sufficiently appealing wrap-up, after such a long, suspenseful buildup, it almost can't help but be anticlimactic. Sweet but ultimately unsatisfying. (Fiction. 8-12)

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November 1, 2014

Gr 5-7-Nora has always loved Paris. During her weekly visits with her beloved grandmother Sylvia, they discuss the best shops, foods, shopping, and sightseeing in the City of Light. Just months before their first trip together for Nora's 12th birthday, Sylvia is hit by a car and dies. While cleaning up her home, Nora discovers a trunk with a locked box, three plane tickets to Paris and a treasure hunt-seven sealed envelopes addressed to Nora and a map of Paris with six pink dots. After some convincing, Nora's mother, Faye, long estranged from Sylvia, agrees to the trip. On their first day in Paris, Nora secretly embarks on the treasure hunt. At the first location she is dismayed to discover that she can not receive the treasure without her mother. After encountering the same circumstance at several other places, she comes clean and reveals the truth to her mother. A light and frothy Parisian adventure with hints of emotional heft. Nora's grief and connection with her mother are dealt with deftly and tied up neatly by the end. This quick read will appeal to Francophiles and reluctant readers alike.-Kefira Phillipe, Nichols Middle School, Evanston, IL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2015
Grades 4-7 For years, Nora has listened to her grandmother Sylvia, a fashion designer, reminisce about her frequent trips to Paris and dreamed about seeing the City of Light herself. Her grandmother promised to take her for her twelfth birthday, but a tragic car accident takes it all awayuntil Nora finds three plane tickets and a treasure map of Paris, including seven sealed envelopes, among her grandmother's things. While Nora grieves for her grandmother, taking the trip seems the best way to honor her. It takes some pleading to get her mom on board, since she and Sylvia had a rocky relationship and Nora has always resented her for this, but she eventually agrees. Once in Paris, Nora tries to do the treasure hunt on her own, but it turns out that she can't complete it without her mother. The bittersweet circumstances of the Paris trip are offset by strong elements of wish fulfillment, including gowns and a fancy fashion show. This is a sweet, reassuring contemporary read about handling grief and reconnecting with family.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)