Marley Z and the Bloodstained Violin [NOOK Book]

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9

Fusilli combines his knowledge of music, love of New York City, and respect and ear for precocious teenagers into a fast-paced mystery. Marley Zimmerman, 14, is jolted from a daydream in her boring math class when she and her friend Marisol are summoned to the vice principal's office. Marisol is accused of stealing a rare violin from a Juilliard display. Even though the theft is caught on videotape, Marisol denies all knowledge of it, and Marley is convinced that her friend, a talented violinist, would never take such a rare instrument. Soon Marley and her friends, members of a new and mostly unrehearsed band called the Kingston Cowboys, are on the case. The teens move across a New York City backdrop that incorporates locales such as the Zimmermans' brownstone, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Central Park, hunting clues and gathering suspects. Unshakable in her conviction of Marisol's innocence, intrepid Marley employs all of her abilities and resources to save her friend. Marley is a fully drawn character, and the supporting cast members are developed well enough to make them compelling and interesting. This mystery keeps pages turning to its surprise ending.-Kathryn Kosiorek, formerly at Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH