Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A practical joke device gone rogue proves fatal in this twisty whodunit by Grant (A Green Velvet Secret). Middle schooler Manya, whose parents own a joke shop, and her best friend Isaac, who lives next door in the apartment above his mother's lingerie store, are aspiring scientists. Though they persuade their parents to let them participate in Serious Science for Serious Kids, an after-school program located at the Museum of Natural History, the course has a steep enrollment fee. Manya's father--who's been conducting experiments with new pranking devices, such as artisanal whoopee cushions, to increase joke shop profits--believes he can offset the cost. But after an incident in which a whoopee cushion explodes and kills the school janitor during her family's joke shop presentation at her middle school lands Manya's parents in jail, accused of murder, Manya and Isaac must employ their science acumen and stealth to prove her parents were framed. Despite an elongated setup, steady tension, high personal stakes, and uniquely rendered relationships drive the story forward as Grant explores one preteen's complex feelings about her "embarrassing" parents and their lives before her across bouncy first-person narration. Characters are described as having varying skin tones. Ages 10--14. Agent: Fiona Kenshole, Transatlantic Literary. (July)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5--7--Twelve-year-old science-obsessed Manya Brown wants nothing more than to attend an extracurricular science course with her best friend and neighbor, Isaac, and her wish is granted when her joke shop-owning parents sign her up for the course. She believes that this is the first step to a long career in science. However, her world is turned upside down when her parents are arrested and subsequently jailed for the death of the school janitor when an item from their shop explodes right before a school assembly where they are scheduled to present. Convinced of their innocence, Manya sets out on a quest to find the culprit. In her pursuit of truth and justice, she learns that there is more to her parents' educational and work history than she previously knew. The adept narrator, Nissae Isen, employs a different voice for each character, allowing listeners to distinguish one from another and making the text easy to follow. VERDICT This lighthearted middle grade mystery tackles a heavy subject--the power of friendship and family--creating a good choice for any library with a juvenile audiobook collection.--Misty Schattle
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
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.(Mystery. 9-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
