Death by whoopee cushion

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)

Gr 5 Up--Manya is perpetually embarrassed by her parents who run the Pranks-a-Million joke shop. She simply wants to be a scientist and go to an after-school class at the science museum with her "nerd herd" best friend Isaac, and ignore all the fake barf and dog poo that her parents push on her. But when her parents come to demonstrate their latest prank creation at her school, an explosion rocks the building and kills the new janitor. Before the incident is written off as an accident, Manya's parents are arrested for the janitor's murder! Was it all a prank gone wrong, or are Manya's parents being framed? The book opens with the plight of a kid with joke-shop parents and evolves into a cliff-hanger that hooks readers and keeps them engaged with short chapters and lots of gross-out prank shop item descriptions. Manya is a drily funny and honest tween with a loyal best friend, and both have relatable friendship and family woes. The action ramps up as Manya tries to solve the case and save her parents, but everything ends on a goofy note. The science woven into the plot is an interesting means of teaching some basic concepts, such as confirmation bias and chemical reactions, with a murder mystery/joke shop backdrop. VERDICT An excellent purchase for upper elementary and middle schools for its short, humorous take on murder mysteries.--Molly Dettmann