I So Don't Do Spooky

by Barrie Summy

Overview

Someone’s out to get Sherry’s stepmom. . . .Can she save her before it’s too late?

Did you know that the main campus of the Academy of Spirits is at a Dairy Queen in Phoenix? Me either. Until now. Some weird stuff has been happening to my stepmother, Paula, and the Academy has asked me, Sherry Holmes Baldwin, to get to the bottom of it. They think someone’s trying to hurt her.

I really don’t want to get involved—my life is way too busy. Josh and I are celebrating two blissful months of togetherness. And my best friend, Junie, is finally showing a teeny bit of interest in clothes and makeup after years of brainiac behavior. But being that my mom is a ghost and all, me, my brother, and my dad rely on Paula a lot. So it’s not like I can just ignore what’s going on. Especially since my mom is competing at the Ghostlympics. If she comes in first place, she earns five minutes of Real Time.

And that means I’ve got to get involved in a creepy, freaky mystery.

But . . . I so don’t do spooky.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385736053
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	10/26/2010
Series:	I So Don't Do... Series
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 7.63(h) x 0.67(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

BARRIE SUMMY is the author of the I So Don’t Do mystery series starring thirteen-year-old detective Sherry Holmes Baldwin and THE DISAPPEARANCE OF EMILY H. She lives in Southern California with her husband, their four children, two dogs, a veiled chameleon, and a fish. There was once a dwarf hamster, but let’s not go there. Visit her online at barriesummy.com and follow her on Facebook.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 6–8—Sherry Holmes Baldwin, the 13-year-old heroine of Summy's I So Don't Do Mysteries (Delacorte, 2008) is back for a second reluctant round of detection. When her mother—a ghostly coed at the Academy of Spirits—asks Sherry to help her find out who is stalking Sherry's stepmother, a task set upon her by her Academy guidance counselor, the teen agrees, even though her relationship with "The Ruler," who teaches at her middle school, is often strained. Guided by her spectral mother as well as her ghostly grandfather, Sherry goes undercover at a neighboring junior high school's robotics club meeting, certain that one of their members is behind the torment. After several meetings with Mom and Grandpa and the intervention of a teen psychic and a ghost-hunter, Sherry finally solves the mystery, though by the last pages of the novel the identity of her stepmother's stalker almost seems like a moot point. Not tightly written or clever enough to be considered screwball, and with not as much attitude as Meg Cabot's "Mediator" series (HarperCollins), this story doesn't satisfy as a mystery or as a supernatural thriller.—Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston

School Library Journal

Despite her attempts to lead a normal life filled with shopping trips and dates with her hunky boyfriend, middle schooler Sherry Holmes Baldwin finds herself thrust back into the role of supernatural sleuth. In this sequel to I So Don't Do Mysteries (2008), Sherry and her best friend, Junie, take on the serious task of unmasking an individual who is stalking Sherry's stepmother. Similar to the previous text, Sherry's deceased mom and grandfather lend support from beyond the grave, a device that, through humor and a thorough setup, manages to be more believable than creepy. In addition to wanting to protect her stepmother, Sherry is determined to crack this mystery for a chance to be awarded five minutes of "Real Time" with her deceased mother. Perfectly tame for middle schoolers-Sherry's dates never pass PG, and although the threat of the stalker is at times menacing, Sherry's silly, over-the-top inner dialogue helps defuse the situation and provide comic relief. (Mystery. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews

04/27/2015
In this sequel to Summy's debut novel I So Don't Do Mysteries, Sherry, who has continued contact with her dead mother, returns as an eighth-grader preoccupied with her new boyfriend, her hair, and her dismal grades in computer class, which is taught by her stepmother, Paula, aka "The Ruler." As in the previous book, Sherry is helping her mother, a former cop now a ghost enrolled in an afterlife police academy, with real-world assignments. This time around, it involves finding a stalker who's harassing Paula. Between numerous classmates, rival school robotics teams, disgruntled parents, and the entire spirit realm, there are plenty of walk-on roles to provide fodder for Sherry's snarky commentary ("Who are these crazy, crazy, unbalanced nutzoids? I came here today totally believing the Donner robotics team wouldn't stalk The Ruler. Now? I'm not so sure"). Readers who like their mysteries light and frothy should find this to their taste, and those who missed the first installment will have no trouble starting here. Ages 10-up. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly