Rating: I like it BUT some families may not
Reading level: Middle School
Sherlock homes for the modern middle school girl, Friday Barnes’ dry, clever humor and fast-paced mysteries will keep the young reader engaged.
Things I like:
- a girl is incredibly smart
- Friday is not concerned with superficial things like fancy clothes, even when people are brutally honest about how her brown cardigans make her look like a vagrant.
- Friday uses her intellectual gifts to help people and to make friends with typically overlooked or unliked characters, all with the help (or maybe just the sweet companionship) of her socially adept but otherwise very clueless friend Melanie.
- Friday just doesn’t mind what others think about her. She is comfortable in her own skin.
- The teachers at the school are ridiculously honest with the students and treat them like people with a contribution to be made. Sometimes they even ask the students for help.
Possible Concerns:
- References to someone being overweight. At first it was subtle and rather clever (“I would have thought that a man with the Headmaster’s girth would appreciate the importance of of breakfast”), but later on some of the comments about his weight are a bit more honest and pointed.
- Overdramatized Romance. Melanie’s tendency to overdramatize the romance between Friday and the nemesis/love interest, Ian. I think the author uses it for comic relief and to cut through Ian’s hostility to Friday, but it is playing off the tendency in our culture to oversell teenage love. At least the ridiculously premature conclusions are somewhat comical.
- Incompetent Teachers. The English teacher, for example, just has the kids read books during class until one of her authorities comes near, in which case she quickly jumps up and feigns a lesson. When her superiors are out of earshot she goes back to reading the newspaper or doing a crossword, occasionally asking her students for help with a word or two. The students quite like the arrangement and help maintain it.
I think for most kids, the good outweighs the bad in this book. However, if body weight or authority or obsession with boys are in your daughter’s hot list of challenges, maybe give this one a pass.
You can check out my reviews of other books in this series:
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