Tween Tuesday: Sleepover Stakeout by Kim Harrington

Tween Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens. Middle grade books are great and super fun to read!

Title: Sleepover Stakeout
Author: Kim Harrington
Series: Sleuth or Dare #2
Genre: Mystery

WHO'S OUT THERE?

Norah and Darcy's detective agency, Partners in Crime, is taking on a new and chilling case. The girls' classmate, Maya, is hearing strange, crackling voices coming over the baby monitor while she's babysitting late at night. Maya is worried someone might be in danger.

To help investigate, Norah and Darcy join her for a sleepover stakeout. In between eating snacks and watching TV, the girls are on high alert for anything suspicious. Soon, they stumble upon a mysterious secret they never could have imagined -- but Norah and Darcy clash over how to interpret the new clues.

Can the girls get past their differences to see their way to the truth?

My thoughts: 

The Sleuth or Dare series by Kim Harrington is my first foray into middle grade and I have enjoyed every second of it! I love the mysterious atmosphere and the fact that these two twelve-year olds are trying to solve these light-hearted mysteries. They are so much fun and reminds me of how much I loved reading Harriet the Spy when I was younger!

I stayed away from middle grade for so long because I didn’t think I would like reading from the perspective of a tween. But there’s just something about this twelve-year old duo that I love! Their voices are so fresh and they end up solving really interesting mysteries instead of the same old “who done-it.” I love the way Norah and Darcy work together and play off each other’s strengths. We also see a lot more of their friendship and the intricacies of why they get along and not so much sometimes. I thought it was important to highlight Darcy’s jealousy when Norah starts hanging out with other people. It’s something that most friendships go through. Not everyone grows in the same ways and someone always ends up feeling left behind.

Again, I just absolutely loved this book and I can’t wait to read the next one! I am giving Sleepover Stakeout 4 hearts for making me think that I should be a private investigator!

Tween Tuesday: Partners in Crime by Kim Harrington

Tween Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens.  Middle grade books are great and super fun to read!

Title: Partners in Crime
Author: Kim Harrington
Series: Sleuth or Dare #1
Genre: Mystery

Whodunit?

When best friends Darcy and Norah have to create a fake business for a school assignment, they come up with a great idea: a detective agency! Darcy loves mysteries, and Norah likes helping people, so it's a perfect fit.

But then their pretend agency gets a real case. Someone is missing, and it's up to Darcy and Norah to take on the search. Unfortunately, there's someone else out there who doesn't want the two detectives stirring up any trouble. . . .

With the help of hidden clues, spy gadgets, and trusted friends, can Darcy and Norah crack the case in time?

My thoughts: 

Honestly you guys, I never thought I would be interested in reading middle grade. But when I discovered that Kim Harrington had written a new middle grade mystery series, I thought I would give it a chance. And I’m so glad I did! It’s fun, fast and a really great adventure.

Harrington’s Partners in Crime really packs a lot of punch in less than two hundred pages. It literally had me guessing until almost the very end. It was a really in-depth mystery that I don’t think I would have been able to figure out on my own. After two seventh graders, who are best friends, create a fake detective agency as their class project, they get a real case and decide to see it out until the end.

The two best friend characters, Darcy and Norah, are super cute. Harrington is able to accurately portray the hopes, doubts, fears and the mindset of a middle school tween. I remember getting the butterflies in my stomach when a cute boy would smile at me and dramatically overanalyzing the super very important question “does he like me?” You get all this and more in Partners in Crime which is what makes it so fun.

This book was such a great and quick read. I can’t think of a better way to catch up on my Goodreads Reading Challenge than to read a book like this! I have to give Partners in Crime 4 hearts because there was actually somewhat of a cliffhanger and I’m really excited to read the next book!!