Review: Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth by Jane O'Connor

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Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth. by Jane O'Connor. April 3, 2012. HarperCollins. 124 pages. ISBN: 9780062082930

Fancy Nancy has a new hobby - solving mysteries! Gone are the simple sentences and fancy new vocabulary words of the Fancy Nancy easy reader series. Gone are the full-color illustrations of her picture book days. Now Nancy and her best friend Bree are gathering clues and searching for suspects in this brand-new chapter book series. This first book focuses on not one, but two mysterious cases. The first case involves a conversation Nancy overhears in which her friend Wanda tells her friend Rhonda that she has been keeping something from Nancy. The second case focuses on Nancy’s teacher’s favorite marble, which goes missing after Family Day.

I will start out by saying that this series is definitely geared toward kids who are already familiar with the Fancy Nancy universe. There is little mention of Nancy’s fanciness, or her obsession with fancy words, and neither she nor any of the friends mentioned above are introduced in any clear way. This is probably not a huge problem, since I think most kids are familiar with Fancy Nancy, either in picture book format, or easy reader format, but if they were not, it might not be easy for them to jump into this story.

I also wonder what was behind the decision to have Nancy start solving mysteries. She’s not the only one - Judy Moody has started doing it as well - but I wonder if mysteries are really that popular among this age group right now. The only ones that move at all at my library are Geronimo Stilton and A to Z Mysteries, and even then, it’s only among a small group of families. I realize that mystery fiction does tend to lend itself well to a series, but it does seem like a big jump for Nancy to go from being interested in fashion and vocabulary to solving crime in her backyard. I’m not convinced it’s going to catch on.

For me, the mysteries were predictable and easy to solve, but they might not be for kids with not much experience reading in this genre. Still, though, the writing felt generic to me, and I zipped easily through the story in about 20 minutes with very little to say about it afterwards. It was really just okay, and I would say that Fancy Nancy fans, more than mystery fans, will be the ones to call it a favorite.

I purchased Nancy Clancy: Super Sleuth from Barnes and Noble for my Nook. 

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.

Review: Petal Pushers #1: Too Many Blooms by Catherine R. Daly

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Petal Pushers #1: Too Many Blooms. by Catherine R. Daly. 2011. Scholastic. 192 pages. ISBN: 9780545214506

In this first book in the Petal Pushers series, readers meet Delphinium Bloom, the oldest grandchild of flower shop owners. When her grandparents announce their plans to retire and leave the shop to Delphinium’s parents, she is horrified. What do her parents know about running a flower shop? Worse, as soon as Del’s grandparents leave, in walks a demanding customer wanting the perfect flowers for her upcoming wedding. Del becomes convinced that her parents can’t handle this detailed flower order, and she begins trying to control every aspect of the shop. In the meantime, her younger sisters, Rose, Aster, and Poppy, become increasingly annoyed with Del’s attitude, while a new boy in school seems to find her very interesting.

This is the third series book I have read recently that focuses on middle school girls running businesses. I don’t know if three is enough to consider it a trend, but I sort of hope it becomes one. There is something really appealing about a tween book that concerns itself with things outside of girl drama and boy-craziness. In this book, Del is plagued by the same issues most fictional middle school girls struggle with - mean popular girls and confusion over a crush - but they don’t consume her entire life. More important to Del are her sisters, her parents, her grandparents, her best friend, and arranging and selling flowers. I think real girls can relate much better to characters who have full, multifaceted lives.

I also think the writing in this book is a notch above some of the other series books I’ve read recently. Sometimes series books like this one have a flat, simplistic style with little description and a “just the facts” approach to storytelling. They often include a lot more telling than showing. This author does a nice job of writing a series book that has that lighthearted, “fluffy” feel that kids expect from paperback fiction but doesn’t water everything down to a basic formula. There is even a great unexpected twist at the end of the book that caught me totally by surprise, which was set things up really well for future titles in the series.

Too Many Blooms is probably best suited to grades 4 to 6, but readers as old as eighth grade might still be interested in it, especially if they’re looking for a short beach read, or something to read on the bus trip to Grandma’s house this summer. It compares well to tween books by Lauren Barnholdt, Tricia Rayburn, and Mimi McCoy, whose works include some romance and friendship drama, but who also keep it clean for the young tween crowd. Other books in the Petal Pushers series include Flower Feud, Best Buds, and Coming up Roses.

I purchased Too Many Blooms from Barnes and Noble for my Nook. 

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.

Fastest Rising Spellings Of Girls' Names USA 2012

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Based on my sister and I's collection of data as to the names given by 2000+ parents in the USA between January 1st 2012 and early April 2012. I hope that you enjoy reading them. Check back later in the year for an update.

1.) Izabella instead of Isabella
2.) Allyson instead of Allison
3.) Kamille instead of Camille (a significant riser as a middle name)
4.) Ryleigh instead of Rylee
5.) Adalyn instead of Adelyn (theres a big trend for this name in all forms)
6.) Abbigail instead of Abigail
7.) Avary instead of Avery
8.) Madilyn instead of Madelyn
9.) Ellise instead of Elise (as a middle name)
10.) Laila instead of Leila

Top 25 Middle Names For Girls USA 2012

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I have collected the name details of over 3,500 baby girls born in the USA since the first day of January 2012. Based on that here is my top 25 middle names. As always to give you the most accurate list I have taken into account all possible spelling variants when calculating any name's popularity. There will be an update to this post later in the year. Happy reading.

1.) Marie (number one by a long way. In some areas nearly 50% of girls have this as a middle name!)
2.) Anne
3.) Grace
4.) Lynn
5.) Rose
6.) Nicole
7.) Mae (on a big up)
8.) Lee
9.) Elizabeth
10.) Rae
11.) Jane
12.) Jean (on the up)
13.) Elise
14.) Kay (on a big up)
15.) Faith
16.) Michelle
17.) Renee
18.) Joy (on the up)
19.) Belle
20.) Claire
21.) Leanne
22.) Christine (on a huge up)
23.) Jade
24.) Jo
25.) Sky (on the up)

Top Middle Class Baby Girl Names England 2012.

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Based on my data collection of children born since January 1st 2012. All possible varaiant spellings have been taken into account when calculating each name's popularity. For ease of reading one spelling has been given for each name here though.

For First Names:

1.) Matilda
2.) Florence
3.) Emilia
4.) Jessica
5.) Elizabeth

For Middle Names:

1.) Grace
2.) Rose
3.) Isabel
4.) Elizabeth
5.) Annabelle

Fastest Rising Spellings Of Girls' Names USA 2012

To contact us Click HERE
Based on my sister and I's collection of data as to the names given by 2000+ parents in the USA between January 1st 2012 and early April 2012. I hope that you enjoy reading them. Check back later in the year for an update.

1.) Izabella instead of Isabella
2.) Allyson instead of Allison
3.) Kamille instead of Camille (a significant riser as a middle name)
4.) Ryleigh instead of Rylee
5.) Adalyn instead of Adelyn (theres a big trend for this name in all forms)
6.) Abbigail instead of Abigail
7.) Avary instead of Avery
8.) Madilyn instead of Madelyn
9.) Ellise instead of Elise (as a middle name)
10.) Laila instead of Leila

Good names for "Irish" cats to be adopted on St. Patrick's Day?

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Hi,





Our local animal shelter is having a St. Patrick's Day adoption celebration for cats. Do you have any good Irish names for cats? I know for people they say "Patty O'Furniture, etc. Thank you.|||Erin, Shannon, Siobhan, Fergus, Aislinn





O'Shea, Shaunessy, Killian, McDonough, and for any cat with whte feet: McMittens|||It you want the names to be really Irish, it's Paddy (not Patty) and Seamus (not Shamis)





Most Irish first names are crazy weird. Irish surnames are better. Here a list: http://www.namenerds.com/irish/last.html





I like Guinness.|||http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Drink鈥?/a>





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Cat_Bo鈥?/a>





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Laughs|||Claude O'Furniture might be more fitting lol. Some Irish names are: Murray, Seamus, Sean, Erin, Colleen and Tara.|||Lucky, Clover, Patrick|||Shamis|||a great name for an irish cat is paddy or shammy...............