Smashie McPerter and the Mystery of the Missing Goop

by N. Griffin, Kate Hindley (Illustrator)

Overview

“Classroom dynamics and a diverse cast add a realistic element to this fast-paced tale of go-go dancing, rapid bilingual alphabetization, and general mayhem.” — Booklist

When the third-graders of Room 11 learn that they all must take part in a musicale, Smashie can’t wait to sing something heartfelt and loud. But the others are not so eager. Luckily, Charlene’s mom has agreed to donate her special gel that lengthens and sculpts hair into shapes, and soon, with the help of some retro sixties go-go dancing, all the kids are raring to go. That is, until their jars of goop go missing! Time for Smashie and her best friend, Dontel, to put on their Investigation Suits. . . . Discussions of motives and perps, hasty misaccusations and apology brownies, a math lesson used to crack a mysterious code, and a few choice red herrings build up to a truly hilarious madcap finale.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763697952
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/12/2017
Series:	Smashie McPerter Investigates , #2
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

  

Editorial Reviews

The story is paced well, and the plot is strong enough to intrigue a variety of readers...the series offers positive lessons and activities that teachers and librarians can incorporate in the classroom. The use of mathematical codes and investigative lingo and the slight mystery will make this a good book for a beginning-of-the-year read-aloud in a third or fourth grade classroom.
—School Library Journal

Classroom dynamics and a diverse cast add a realistic element to this fast-paced tale of go-go dancing, rapid bilingual alphabetization, and general mayhem.
—Booklist Online

Griffin concocts a baroque plot involving a secret code credibly based on third-grade math and tells it with SAT-level vocabulary. She contextualizes that vocabulary carefully, sequencing sentences to prepare readers for it...Readers will be hoping for an equally savvy Book 3.
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

08/01/2016
Gr 3–6—Another mystery is unfolding in Room 11 at Crumpler Elementary School, and it looks like Smashie McPerter and her best friend Dontel are back to doing what they do best, investigating. Smashie is still as vivacious and dramatic as when readers last saw her, Dontel is still his incredibly patient and mature self, and the level of mystery has finally reached a fine balance between believable and exciting. The students are working on a talent show, and one of the keys to the show keeps going missing each time it is replaced. This leads to many suspects, some plausible and some far-fetched. The story is paced well, and the plot is strong enough to intrigue a variety of readers. Unfortunately, the dialogue and the vocabulary feel more appropriate to adults than to a pair of third graders. That quibble aside, the series offers positive lessons and activities that teachers and librarians can incorporate in the classroom. VERDICT The use of mathematical codes and investigative lingo and the slight mystery will make this a good book for a beginning-of-the-year read-aloud in a third or fourth grade classroom.—Chad Lane, Tulip Grove Elementary School, MD

School Library Journal

2016-11-02
Third-grade sleuths Smashie McPerter and Dontel Marquise are back.Having found classroom pet Patches in Smashie McPerter and the Mystery of Room 11 (2015), the best friends step up again when a classmate's delicious-smelling "lengthening and molding" hair goop goes missing, threatening the success of the Third-Grade Hair Extravaganza and Musicale. Who could be taking the few precious jars of Herr Goop? Smashie, a white girl who tends to get carried away, and Dontel, a black boy who tends not to, consider motive and opportunity and work to solve the mystery even as the third-graders practice and they themselves choreograph go-go dances to be staged between each act. Griffin concocts a baroque plot involving a secret code credibly based on third-grade math and tells it with SAT-level vocabulary. She contextualizes that vocabulary carefully, sequencing sentences to prepare readers for it. Kids who understand how hard it is for Smashie and Dontel "to join a line of children who were all mad at them" will see how the "frostiness" might be "palpable." Even if Smashie and her pals don't talk like 8-year-olds, though, they behave like them, getting carried away with endearing earnestness. Griffin also subtly attacks stereotypes with her multiethnic group of hugely likable kids. Dontel's dad is a dentist, and a Latina student's mom is a patent attorney—a fact that also figures into the plot. Readers will be hoping for an equally savvy Book 3. (Mystery. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews