The Mistaken Masterpiece

May 15, 2011

Fresh from solving The Vanishing Violin (2010) mystery, seventh-grade amateur sleuths and best friends Sophie, Margaret, Rebecca and Leigh Ann of St. Veronica's all-girl's school in Manhattan tackle two new cases.

This third installment opens with Sophie receiving a broken nose after "accidentally" colliding with arch-rival Livvy at swim practice. When Sophie's dad arranges for the Red Blazer girls to spend a day with teen idol Nate Etan on his movie set, Sophie agrees to be his dog sitter. The pace accelerates after Father Julian enlists the Red Blazer Girls Detective Agency to tackle two cases. The first involves determining which of two seemingly identical baseballs autographed by the New York Yankees 1928 starting line-up is real. Surprisingly, Nate's dog helps unravel this one. The second case concerns a painting that could be valuable if the girls can prove it was painted before 1961. As Sophie balances dog-sitting, school, performing in The Blazers band, swim team, worrying about boyfriend Raf and troubling encounters with Livvy, she and her pals piece together the increasingly complex painting puzzle in a frenzied finale. As usual, Sophie narrates with humor and self-effacing aplomb. Visual evidence inserted in the text invites reader participation.

While this caper proves less brain-teasing and exciting than its predecessors, the four (soon to be five?) Red Blazer gals still rock. (Mystery. 10-14)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

August 1, 2011

Gr 5-8-The Red Blazer Girls' latest case comes by way of old friend Father Julian, who asks them to look into the history of an heirloom painting left to his father. In order to get the right price for the art, the girls must prove that it was created before 1961, the year of the artist's death. With nothing to go on except the painting and hundreds of old family photographs, the four friends at St. Veronica's School in Manhattan accept the case. In addition to the mystery at hand, Sophie finds herself juggling dog-sitting for a movie star and forging a friendship with an enemy, along with fostering a budding music career. Beil has crafted an appealing story line for mystery fans. Intellect, curiosity, and determination are celebrated in the four main characters. With nary a mention of designer handbags or jeans, this is a story that can be recommended to all; gold card not required.-Colleen S. Banick, Tomlinson Middle School, Fairfield, CT

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
Grades 5-8 The Red Blazer Girls, students (and detectives) at St. Veronicas School in Manhattan, return. Narrator Sophie is one busy gal: she is on the swim team and has her nose broken by her archrival; she meets movie star Nate, who asks her to take care of his dog; she and boyfriend Raf are trying to expand their relationship, but he cant stay out past 8:30; and her band is going great guns. So who needs a mystery about a painting that may or may not be what it seems? Well, apparently the Red Blazer Girls do. When Father Julian asks them to investigate the ownership of a family heirloom, the girls are on the case. Beil is clearly from the more is more school of mystery writing. The plotlines move and twist at a sometimes-alarming pace. What holds everything together is Sophies funny first-person narration, cleverly plotted mysteries that (in some cases) readers can solve, and, here, the added panache of celebrities who arent just dreamy; theyre nice. Clearlyand happilytheres plenty to keep the girls sleuthing for a long time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)