Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking

May 20, 2013
Moxie Fleece has high expectations for the summer after eighth grade, but a visit from a “psychotic redheaded stranger” changes its trajectory. The woman tells Moxie that her family has two weeks to return the “items” Moxie’s grandfather hid years earlier for a notorious gangster, Sully Cupcakes. Moxie’s grandfather is now living in a care facility, due to his Alzheimer’s disease, which leaves math whiz Moxie and her asthmatic best friend Ollie, a geocaching aficionado, to figure out what the items are and to find them. Soon, they are hunting down artwork stolen in a famous (and, in real life, unsolved) heist from the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in Boston. Confident, outspoken Moxie sets up a geometry proof to organize evidence, and Ollie puts his geocaching skills to work as the two sift through clues that lead them throughout the city. Dionne (Notes from an Accidental Band Geek) is attentive to details of Boston institutions, music, and geography, and the believable dialogue and characters, complicated family dynamics, and threat of danger make this mystery hard to put down. Ages 10–up. Agent: Sally Harding, the Cooke Agency.

June 15, 2013
This fast-paced, National Treasure-style mystery puts an imaginative spin on the real story behind the infamous theft of several masterpieces from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. Thirteen-year-old Moxie discovers that her beloved Grumps, now languishing in a home for Alzheimer's patients, may have been involved in the much-publicized art heist. She knows he had been employed as a fixer for criminal elements in his shady past but does not know any specifics. Extra drama is added in the form of a sinister, even sadistic redheaded woman who acts on behalf of notorious crime boss Sully Cupcakes (yes, really) and who loses no opportunity to threaten Moxie with a fate worse than death if she does not find and return the stolen art within two weeks. This puts Moxie in a serious quandary. She can either go to the police and risk Grumps' arrest, or she can confess all to her mother and risk being permanently exiled from Boston to New Hampshire at the behest of Mom's new boyfriend. Either way, Moxie feels compelled to undertake the search for the missing art, aided by Ollie, her trusty sidekick and a geocaching whiz. With the help of her considerable math smarts and namesake moxie, our heroine manages to protect her family and track down the missing art, with unexpected consequences. Moxie narrates the breathless, action-packed tale in a humorous first person, maintaining the suspense almost to the end. The caper should appeal to readers looking for a lot of action, a few puzzles and not a lot of depth. (Thriller. 10-15)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2013

Gr 6-9-Thirteen-year-old Moxie was supposed to spend her last summer before high school exploring Boston with her friend Ollie. Her plans are ruined, though, when a mysterious stranger arrives at her door asking for her grandfather and threatening to harm her family if certain "items" are not returned to a dangerous criminal named Sully Cupcakes. Moxie soon learns that her grandfather, now dealing with Alzheimer's, was an accomplice to the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft, hiding the stolen artwork in locations around the city. Sully Cupcakes has demanded that the artwork be returned to him within two weeks, and Moxie and Ollie race to discover the hiding places and to prevent Cupcakes and his accomplices from gaining access to the priceless masterpieces. Although many of Moxie's stunts are far-fetched (breaking undetected into historical landmarks, arguing face-to-face with dangerous criminals, etc.), most readers will forgive this as they get caught up in the breathless thrill-ride. With the recent announcement that the FBI knows the identities of the Gardner art thieves and is continuing its search for the missing works, this title is especially relevant.-Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2013
Grades 5-8 Readers will gladly suspend disbelief as two 14-year-olds scour Boston to find millions of dollars in stolen art with rather remarkable ease. Aptly nicknamed Moxie is a smart, spunky, street-savvy protagonist who is planning a memorable summer with her best friend Ollie before a visitor from her grandfather's murky past changes everything. In his younger days, Grumps was involved with the Boston mob and was responsible for hiding the stolen art that Moxie has now been chosen to find. Grumps has Alzheimer's but is cognizant enough to remember the details Moxie needs to solve the mystery. Plot and character drive this lively book. Teens will like Moxie and Ollie for their believable adolescent responses and admire them for their sophisticated Internet skills and geocaching expertise, both of which enable them to outsmart gangsters and the FBI. Fans of Blue Balliett's Chasing Vermeer (2004) will appreciate the similarities: using math to solve real-life dilemmas, depending on a best friend when times are rough, and learning that urban centers are rich in history, culture, and crime.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)