Girl's Best Friend (Maggie Brooklyn Mystery Series #1)

by Leslie Margolis

Overview

Nancy Drew fans will fall for the first title in Leslie Margolis's pitch-perfect middle-grade series, The Maggie Brooklyn Mysteries.

Dogs are disappearing in her neighborhood, and Maggie Brooklyn Sinclair knows all about it. After all, she has a semi-secret after-school gig as a professional (ok, amateur) dog-walker. Maggie hates to see a pup in trouble, so she's even willing to help her ex-best friend Ivy recover her rescue-dog, Kermit. Kermit's being held for ransom, and Maggie has noticed some suspicious behavior lately. But she never suspected her crush Milo could be involved . . .

Don't miss these other stories by Leslie Margolis:

The Maggie Brooklyn Mysteries
Girl's Best Friend
Vanishing Acts
Secrets at the Chocolate Mansion

The Annabelle Unleashed series
Boys Are Dogs
Girls Acting Catty
Everybody Bugs Out
One Tough Chick
Monkey Business

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781599906904
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	10/25/2011
Series:	Maggie Brooklyn Mystery Series , #1
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	246,417
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

LESLIE MARGOLIS is the author of numerous books for young readers, including the Annabelle Unleashed books as well as the Maggie Brooklyn mystery series. The Disney Channel movie Zapped!, starring Zendaya was inspired by the first book in the Annabelle Unleashed series, Boys are Dogs.
www.lesliemargolis.com
@lesliemargolis

Editorial Reviews

In the first book in the Maggie Brooklyn Mystery series, Margolis (Boys Are Dogs) introduces dog-walker Maggie Brooklyn Sinclair, a 12-year-old whose middle name proclaims her parents' move from Manhattan to Brooklyn, which was necessitated by the birth of Maggie and her twin brother, Finn. Filled with authentic borough references, the book opens with standard tween concerns--getting the courage to talk to a crush, fuming over a friend's betrayal--and slowly develops the mysteries Maggie must solve. The principal whodunit concerns a dognapping, and dogs are key characters in secondary story lines, which include the progression of Maggie's crush and the increasingly strange behavior of her eccentric landlady. Margolis tries to make up for the dawdling start (the main mystery isn't introduced until nearly a third of the way in) by including a few red herrings and then rapidly tying up all the loose ends in a speedy, though credible, resolution. Maggie is a friendly and thoughtful narrator with a sharply logical mind; readers who stick with her through the opening chapters will appreciate her intellect and bravery, and applaud her success. Ages 8–12. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 5–7—Twelve-year-old Maggie Brooklyn is a dog-walker and a wannabe Nancy Drew. She gets her first chance to sleuth when neighborhood dogs begin disappearing. The dognappings are mysteriously introduced in the prologue, but more crimes slowly appear as readers meet and get to know the protagonist. The pacing keeps kids looking for additional clues and gives Maggie a chance to prove what they suspect. Not only does she expose the thief, but she also solves a second mystery—her landlady's missing fortune. That mystery weaves quietly in and out of the chapters as Maggie deals with the missing pets, her crush on Milo, her friend-enemy Ivy, and her busy schedule of dog-walking (plus, keeping it a secret from her parents). Characters are well-developed, typical preteens. Readers will easily identify with these seventh graders, and they will love the eccentric landlady who adds a bit of humor. Mystery fans will enjoy this lighthearted whodunit.—Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH

School Library Journal

In this series debut, Maggie Sinclair tracks down a dognapper and solves a mystery about the noises in the walls of her Brooklyn brownstone apartment building. The 12-year-old heroine, who shares a middle name—Brooklyn—with her twin brother, Finn, is juggling two dogwalking jobs she's keeping secret from her parents, and somehow she attracts the ire of the dogs' former walker. Maggie tells her story in the first person—she's self-possessed and likable, even when her clueless brother invites her ex–best friend, now something of an enemy, to their shared 12th birthday party. Maggie's attention to details helps her to figure out why dogs seem to be disappearing and why there seem to be mice in the walls of her building, though astute readers will pick up on the solution to at least one mystery before Maggie solves it. There's a brief nod to Nancy Drew, but the real tensions in this contemporary preteen story are more about friendship and boy crushes than skullduggery. Still, the setting is appealing, and Maggie is a smart and competent heroine whose personal life is just as interesting as—if not more than—her detective work. (Mystery. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews