In the process, she's perfected the art of going unnoticed, which has quite a few upsides, including getting to consume a nearly unlimited amount of chocolate and detective stories, which she likes much better than physics. Characters appear diverse, but there's no mention of ethnic differences.Īt 11, Friday Barnes, youngest child of a family of physics professors, has more or less raised herself and acquired quite an education by reading all the books in her parents' library. Comic-book artist Phil Gosier's plentiful black-and-white illustrations bring the quirky cast of characters to life.

Numerous references to animal poop, which figures in the solution to one of the crimes. The cases Friday solves range from diamond heists and wildlife smuggling to disappearing homework she threatens a bully with bodily harm if he messes with her friend, and the youthful crime-solvers are briefly kidnapped, but little real harm befalls anyone.

The book's vocabulary is best for proficient readers, as its gleeful use of academic terms, literary references, and plain old big words are part of the fun. Heroine Friday is a brilliant, geeky, take-charge 11-year-old heroine whose snarky remarks and off-the-wall detective work especially appeal to smart, independent-minded kids. version of a multivolume Australian boarding-school mystery series. Parents need to know that Friday Barnes, Girl Detective is the first book of the U.S. Also there's a sample chapter from the next installment of the series at the end of the book. Occasional scene-setting mentions of real products, such as PowerPoint, Lexus, Xbox, PlayStation. For example: 'I got expelled from my last school for hitchhiking into town to buy chocolate, I would have gotten away with it, too, if the driver who picked me up hadn't been a kidnapper who decided to hold me for ransom.'ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide. Potentially scary moments involve a yeti-like monster in the swamp next to the school, and the rich kids attract assorted trouble. Let's go.' She's also knocked out when she accidentally hits her head on a statue.

on the condition that you must never challenge Binky to a fight again, because he is a large simple boy who can, when given the proper instruction by me, hurt you seriously. Friday helps a friend use martial-arts moves on a bully but then agrees to solve a problem for the defeated bully: 'There is more to this, and I promise to get to the bottom of it for you. A villain is involved in wildlife smuggling. Two kids are abducted and briefly held prisoner.

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