Audacity Jones to the Rescue by Kirby Larson

Rating: I like it BUT some families may not

Reading Level: Middle School

Audacity (Audie) Jones, a resourceful, resolute, and spunky orphan, finds herself in the middle of what turns out to be a nefarious plot of revenge and greed. She must use her intuition along with the help of a reliable feline friend, and some new (human) friends, to get herself out of the pickle and prevent a major crime.

I really enjoyed this one, despite its issues, however a young reader must have enough maturity to handle (SPOILER ALERTS!) these potential issues:

• There is certainly an element of mysticism throughout. For example, Audacity gets a tingling feeling when something suspicious is happening. Another character, a wise old stablehand, is able to judge good and bad character. A peripheral chracter, a circus woman, uses hypnotism to extract some information to help rescue Audie. One of Audie’s friends has bad dreams and knows she needs help. Finally, a cat seems to understand all that is going on, follows Audie across the country, and ends up both comforting Audie when she is feeling lonely, and eventually helping the heroine escape.
• There is a plot to kidnap a niece of the President of the United States. The niece is in fact poisoned and then taken and locked up in an old barn. Audie is also poisoned and is locked in a cellar-type room.
• President Taft’s rotund shape is mentioned a couple times
• A barrel of living turtles are made into soup, and Audie faints when one looks at her right before it faces its death.
• At one point Audie—who once craved adventure—says, “Adventure be hanged!”
• Youngsters (many of them orphans) at “Miss Maisie’s School for Wayward Girls” are treated poorly, and have shoes that are too small, and a headmistress who is incapable of appropriately running the place.

I think what overcomes many of these issues for me is that Audie’s character is so earnest and and full of resilience, wisdom, courage, and hope. Despite the tough hand that life has played, Audie remains loyal to the stars and stripes, and true to her friends back at Miss Maisie’s School for Wayward Girls. It would be hard to not be inspired.

I’m choosing Middle-School for the correct age because some of the jokes/subtleties might be difficult for a reader any younger to grasp.