The Ransom Note Blues Reviewed in School Library Journal

The Ransom Note Blues just got a super nice review from School Library Journal that is going to run in their September edition!

Here’s what they said:

SANTOPOLO, Jill. The Ransom Note Blues. Bk. 2. illus. by Nathan Hale. 176p. (Alec Flint Mystery Series). Scholastic/Orchard. 2009. pap. $5.99. ISBN 978-0-439-91255-6. LC number unavailable.

Gr 3-5–Readers of Donald Sobol’s “Encyclopedia Brown” (Puffin), David Adler’s “Cam Jansen” (Viking), and Ron Roy’s “A to Z Mysteries” (Random) will have something to cheer about with this series. Alec’s father is a small-town chief of police, and Alec and his sidekick, Gina, are masters at observing the world around them and spend as much time practicing their sleuthing skills as they do on their schoolwork. They also enjoy communicating with one another in codes and a form of silent talking that they call “no noise” speech. Here, the fourth graders take on an art mystery while studying Abstract Expressionism and the style of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. Their world, families, and friendships are reassuring and easy. The tale is 12 chapters long, which will allow confident readers a chance to enjoy a more extensive story without having to deal with content that may be above their maturity level. –Kathleen Meulen, Sakai Intermediate School, Bainbridge Island, WA 

The Alec Flint mysteries have been getting some online coverage too. You can click here to read an article that talks about the series.