The Red Blazer Girls: The Mistaken Masterpiece

Title: The Mistake Masterpiece
Series: The Red Blazer Girls
Author: Michael D. Beil
ISBN: 978-0-375-86740-8

For anyone who hasn't been reading The Red Blazer Girls series, what are you waiting for?  Book one The Ring of Rocamadour, book two The Vanishing Violin and book three The Mistaken Masterpiece are delightful mysteries.  They are written by Michael D. Beil who teaches at a Catholic all girls high school in Manhatten (which explains how he knows so much about the innerworkings of Catholic Schools). 

Like the first two books the main characters Becca, Leigh Ann, Margaret, and Sophie are ready for another case.  Somehow the girls find time to solve local mysteries while balancing school, band practice, swim practice, and rubbing elbows with celebrities (and their dogs).  Book three is a faster paced book, chock full of action in every chapter.  The girls set out to help Father Julian discover when a painting he owns was painted, only to discover that his painting is an expert forgery. 

While searching for clues about who could have taken the missing painting the girls delve into the cut throat world of modern art.  This book is an excellent read if you enjoy Nancy Drew or the Neil Flambe mysteries!

Lulu and the Brontosaurus

Title: Lulu and the Brontosaurus
Author: Judith Viorst
Illustrator: Lane Smith
ISBN: 978-1-4169-9961-4

Don't be fooled.  Just because we shelve this book in the juvenile fiction section everybody and I do mean EVERYBODY who has ever liked dinosaurs will love it.  Parents don't be intimidated, check out Lulu for your dinosaur lover today, the story is broken into easy to read chapters.  Plus this book has NEVER been checked out.  The first person who checks out Lulu will receive a free book bag from the children's room!

Now that I have caught every ones attention lets get on with the book review:

"There once was a girl named Lulu, and she was a pain.  She wasn't a pain in the elbow.  She wasn't a pain in the knee.  She was a pain- a very big pain- in the b u t t ."

This is how you know that the book is going to be good, if you don't believe me turn the page and check out the picture of Lulu drawn by Lane Smith.  It features a pouty little girl, arms crossed, mouth in a frown literally glaring at you from the book.  Oh yes Lulu is going to make the perfect main character for a book about having a dinosaur for a pet.  For twelve days Lulu through a continuous fit, and yet her parents kept telling her that she cannot have a dinosaur for a pet.  On the thirteenth day Lulu takes things into her own hands. 

So Lulu goes into the deep dark wild forest searching for her very own Brontosaurus.  However, as she is searching she encounters a slew of other animals who are all determined to squish, eat, scratch, and generally damage poor Lulu, yet she escapes unharmed.  Well, unharmed until she meets the Brontosaurus of her dreams and that is when the real trouble starts. 

Lulu and the Brontosaurus is a delightful tale, of not always getting what you want, and how to be nice to those around you.  If you are still unconvinced about the merits of Lulu come take to Anna, she will certainly convince you!