The Unusual Suspects (Sisters Grimm Series #2)

by Michael Buckley Narrated by L. J. Ganser

Overview

The Sisters Grimm mystery series is a hit with young fans. Their adventures as Fairy-Tale Detectives continue in The Unusual Suspects. Against their wishes, the girls are forced to enroll at Ferryport Landing Elementary. And while Daphne adapts quickly to school life, Sabrina discovers a never-ending parade of awful teachers and mean bullies. But when a monster kills Mr. Grumpner, Sabrina, Daphne and Granny Relda jump on the case.

“The story is fast paced and the main characters are sympathetic and appealing.” -School Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-In this second book in the series, Sabrina and Daphne continue their family's fairy-tale detective work in the Hudson River town of Ferryport Landing. The village has more than its share of "Everafters," a group of fairy-tale characters who escaped persecution in Europe by fleeing to America over 200 years ago. Here, the sisters start attending the local elementary school where the principal just happens to be the Pied Piper of Hamelin and Snow White is a most beloved teacher. Almost instantly, one of their teachers is found dead in his classroom, tied to the ceiling in a spider web. While investigating his murder, the girls uncover a devious plot and get closer to discovering the whereabouts of their missing parents. Free-spirited Daphne is a perfect foil for her older, grumpier sister, Sabrina, whose understandable anger over the loss of her parents is the main theme of this novel. There are as many references to frightening aspects of today's world as there are nods to folklore and sometimes both appear in the same sentence. While this mixing of sensibilities proves that fairy tales can be as dark as reality, it also occasionally trivializes truly upsetting modern problems such as nuclear weapons and child labor. The story is fast paced and the main characters are sympathetic and appealing. The abrupt ending will leave readers hungry for the next book in the series.-Kathleen Meulen, Blakely Elementary School, Bainbridge Island, WA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In a second outing every bit as hilarious and scary as the first, Sabrina and Daphne, the two young descendants of Wilhelm Grimm, no sooner start school in Ferryport Landing than the murders of a teacher and the custodian catapult them into a new investigation. Well-populated by figures from their many-times-great grandpa's tales, plus the likes of Geppetto, Prince Charming and Puck-all of whom are magically confined to the small Hudson River town for their own protection, but don't much like it-the tale unfolds amid encounters with bullies, monsters and large quantities of slime. It involves wild rides through the air and other threats to life and limb, and culminates in a subterranean face-off with Rumpelstiltskin, a goblin with a creepy fondness for children who has partnered with the Pied Piper for an escape attempt. Buckley halts the action a little too often to fill in the back story, and his climax is awkwardly staged-but all of his characters glow with interesting nuances, as they did in the first episode, and he closes this one on a genuinely disturbing cliffhanger. Definitely not bedtime reading. Occasional technically finished illustrations. (Fantasy. 12-14)

DEC 06/JAN 07 - AudioFile

Ferryport Landing is a town full of “Ever Afters,” fairy tale folk who have assumed real lives. Sabrina and Daphne Grimm must determine who’s an Ever After and who’s not. L.J. Ganser’s rough voice exemplifies the anger and frustration in most of the characters, an emotion that becomes a motif of the story. He gives most of the characters clearly differentiated voices, from mischievous Puck to patient Granny Relda. His Sabrina is impatient and short-tempered. Unfortunately, he’s not always consistent, and some of the Ever After children’s voices are too similar too distinguish. But he paces the story well, building suspense to the cliff-hanger ending. W.L.S. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171139100
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	03/27/2009
Series:	The Sisters Grimm Series , #2
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	440,109

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