I So Don't Do Mysteries

March 1, 2010
In this sequel to Summy's debut novel I So Don't Do Mysteries, Sherry, who has continued contact with her dead mother, returns as an eighth-grader preoccupied with her new boyfriend, her hair, and her dismal grades in computer class, which is taught by her stepmother, Paula, aka "The Ruler." As in the previous book, Sherry is helping her mother, a former cop now a ghost enrolled in an afterlife police academy, with real-world assignments. This time around, it involves finding a stalker who's harassing Paula. Between numerous classmates, rival school robotics teams, disgruntled parents, and the entire spirit realm, there are plenty of walk-on roles to provide fodder for Sherry's snarky commentary ("Who are these crazy, crazy, unbalanced nutzoids? I came here today totally believing the Donner robotics team wouldn't stalk The Ruler. Now? I'm not so sure"). Readers who like their mysteries light and frothy should find this to their taste, and those who missed the first installment will have no trouble starting here. Ages 10-up.

October 20, 2008
About to be shipped off to San Diego while her widower dad goes on his honeymoon, seventh-grader Sherry (short for Sherlock) Holmes Baldwin prepares to put up a fight when she is contacted by her mother's ghost. Killed in the line of duty, her cop mother is flunking out of an afterlife law-enforcement academy, and she needs Sherry's help to crack a case at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. So what if Sherry, a self-proclaimed screwup, is nothing like Nancy Drew? (“Do I look like a strawberry-blond-haired teenage detective?” wisecracking Sherry demands.) Summy keeps the fizz in her effervescent premise for most of this debut novel, using a punchy first-person narration; story lines involving romances, movie stars, rhinos and egotistical chefs; and various eccentricities, including a late grandfather who assumes the form of a wren. Although the plot becomes too convoluted even for screwball comedy, Sherry remains entertaining, and readers will hope for a second caper. Ages 10–up.

November 15, 2008
In life, Sherry and her work-obsessed cop mother weren 't much of a team, but when Sherry 's deceased mom returns as a spirit several months after her death, Sherry can 't deny her request to join forces in her quest to move on in the spirit world. It seems she 's in danger of flunking out of the Academy of Spirits, a ghostly institution that trains the departed to watch over the living. Despite being named after Sherlock Holmes, Sherry feels more comfortable hanging out at the mall and generally shies away from mysteries and challenges, but as she gets drawn into her mother 's task, Sherry finds that she can persevere under pressure, be incredibly resourceful and even shine in the limelight. The task involves saving a rhino at San Diego 's Wild Animal Park that is being targeted for assassination —Sherry 's mother 's final assignment in Prevent a Crime class. Although so aggressively fluffy and self-consciously chick-lit –y that the narrative at times borders on hokey, Sherry 's relationship with her mother 's spirit and her own quirky personality elevate this text by adding sincerity and warmth. (Fantasy. 10-13)

(COPYRIGHT (2008) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2009
Gr 5-8-With the help of her mother and her grandfather, both of whom happen to be deceased, Sherry Holmes Baldwin is out to stop an evil rhino killer. The seventh grader thought her trip to San Diego to stay with her great-aunt, along with her friend Junie and Junie's cousin, would be filled will sunbathing and shopping. That was until her mother's ghost appeared to her and informed Sherry that she needed help with an important Academy of Spirits assignment. If she fails to stop whoever is plotting to kill rhinos at the Wild Animal Park, she will be banished to an afterlife reserved for Academy failures. Unfortunately, the story is dull. There are characters who are completely irrelevant and who seemingly serve no purpose other than to make this book painfully long. Sherry may have solved the mystery in the end, but Nancy Drew she is not."Robyn Zaneski, New York Public Library"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2009
After her dad gets suddenly married to "The Ruler," Sherry is shipped off to San Diego during his honeymoon. Surprisingly, Sherry's dead mother's ghost shows up, seeking assistance with an afterlife assignment: to expose a rhino-poisoner at the Wild Animal Park. Sherry, to use her own lingo, is uber-whiney, but readers may enjoy her offbeat mystery.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 15, 2008
In life, Sherry and her work-obsessed cop mother weren't much of a team, but when Sherry's deceased mom returns as a spirit several months after her death, Sherry can't deny her request to join forces in her quest to move on in the spirit world. It seems she's in danger of flunking out of the Academy of Spirits, a ghostly institution that trains the departed to watch over the living. Despite being named after Sherlock Holmes, Sherry feels more comfortable hanging out at the mall and generally shies away from mysteries and challenges, but as she gets drawn into her mother's task, Sherry finds that she can persevere under pressure, be incredibly resourceful and even shine in the limelight. The task involves saving a rhino at San Diego's Wild Animal Park that is being targeted for assassination —Sherry's mother's final assignment in Prevent a Crime class. Although so aggressively fluffy and self-consciously chick-lit –y that the narrative at times borders on hokey, Sherry's relationship with her mother's spirit and her own quirky personality elevate this text by adding sincerity and warmth. (Fantasy. 10-13)

(COPYRIGHT (2008) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)