Isabel Feeney, Star Reporter

Reviewed by: Phyllis Fuchs - Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 8, 2016

Review

School Library Journal calls it "a not-to-be-missed novel for middle graders looking for a satisfying mystery with a daring female heroine." It is a definite page-turner, all three hundred and thirty six pages in its ninety seven chapters offered in easy -on -the -eye sized type and with many of those chapters ending as cliff hangers. Isabel Feeney is a likable narrator of a murder set in 1920's Chicago, then full of gangsters and guns. She is also a newsgirl who dreams of one day becoming a star reporter like the one who is also featured in the story. An appended historical note reveals that the book's author was inspired by the lives of five real women who covered crime for the Chicago Tribune during the 1920's. Recommended to public and school libraries as well as to anyone looking for an exciting read, especially for girls, who enjoy mystery stories.

Overall Book Score: very good