BOOK NOOK REVIEWS: Amanda Flower

                                         

Title: Andi Unstoppable
Author: Amanda Flower
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Ages: 9-12

Synopsis:

School has begun for the two Killdeer middle schoolers and the science teacher has a great idea! He is an expert birder and wants his class to share in the fun. In a birding group with Colin and her biggest school rival, Ava, Andi sets out to be the first student in class to spot the elusive Kirtland warbler but ends up spotting the town’s resident ghost instead!

Together with her friends, Andi takes on another small town mystery—is the legend of the ghost of Dominika Shalley more than just a story? And does her sudden appearance have anything to do with the holes the friends find in the Shalley graveyard as they look for the rare bird?

Why you should read it: 

If you were a fan of Nancy Drew mystery books when you were younger, you will see some similarities in the latest book in the Andi Boggs series. If you've never read a children's mystery story before, maybe now's the time to try them out.

Main characters Andi and her best friend Colin are very believable.  Andi has not had it easy being an orphan and middle school can be challenging. Especially when she has to deal with someone like bossy Ava, who joins her team to photograph the elusive Kirkland Warbler for a Life Science project. But when Colin's great aunt Claudette agrees to take the three of them on an overnight camping trip to Shalley Park to look for the rare bird, they come across the graves of the Shalley brothers who were killed during the Civil War. They also learn about a ghost supposedly haunting the graveyard. But when they discover a patch of freshly dug dirt near one of the graves, Andi and Colin decide this is one mystery they need to solve.

Ms. Flower has continued the fun adventures in her Andi Boggs series with her latest endeavor. Lovers of the Nancy Drew style of writing will see the familiar in this story while still being able to enjoy following Andi and Colin as they try to solve a modern day mystery. A good addition to any home library.

Like-o-meter Rating scale**: 4 out of 5...think about it.

**Rating scale**

 5 out of 5...grab it!

 4 out of 5...think about it.

 3 out of 5...take it or leave it.

 2 out of 5...maybe not for you.

 1 out of 5...forget about it!

 

(Disclaimer: Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers http://booklookbloggers.com book 

review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the 

Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx 03/16cfr255 03.html ("Guides Concerning the use of 

Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.")

Vanishing Without A Trace...

Everyone has seen keys, glasses, even money disappear without a trace before.  But a person? Or how about a whole village?

When I was a senior in high school, I had gym class the first thing in the morning.   High school was not necessarily the best time of my life and gym was at the bottom of my list so I always made sure I went straight there to get it over with.  My high school was connected to a separate building housing the gymnasium by a covered walk way.  There was basically only one way TO the gym from the high school and only one way BACK which is the route I took that day.  Even now no one can explain to me what happened but I managed to lose my entire gym class one fall day.  No one in the locker room, no one in the showers, no one wandering the school grounds between the buildings.  My entire class had simply VANISHED before my eyes and it shook me so profoundly I had to leave school for the rest of the day.

Mysterious disappearances happen all the time but for your reading enjoyment and to make up for my emergency of last week preventing my posting a Wild Wednesday blog, I have included two instances where someone or something has vanished without a trace...

On one chilly December morning in 1910, prominent socialite, Dorothy Arnold, decided to take a stroll through Central Park.  She was the daughter of a wealthy perfume importer and was hoping to purchase a new party dress.  She was last seen at a bookstore where she made a purchase and ran into a female friend.  That was the last person to probably see Dorothy Arnold alive as she never returned home that night and a private investigation performed by the Pinkertons could find no trace of her.  Dorothy's father, Francis Arnold, would end up spending over $100,000 over the years  in a sad attempt to locate his daughter and by the time Francis died in 1922, he had given up all hope of ever seeing Dorothy alive.

There is much controversy about what happened to the 30 Inuit men, women, and children living in an isolated village on Lake Anjikuni one cold November night in 1930.  Canadian fur trapper, Joe Labelle, came across the village and instead of being greeted by the inhabitants, Joe found deserted huts and the people gone.  What was so bewildering was all the things left behind like food, clothing, tools and there was even some talk that the ceremonial graves of the Inuit ancestors had been dug up and the bodies removed.  Even an extensive search by the Canadian Mounties failed to turn up any clue as to what happened to the villagers.  To this day, the debate goes on as to what really happened.