Friday Barnes Under Suspicion

Reviewed by: Sheila Dube - Springvale Public Library, Springvale, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 6, 2017

Review

This is the second installment about the genius teen detective Friday Barnes, whose lack of social grace is made up for by her talent of solving problems in Sherlock-ish fashion at the boarding school she attends. Friday uses her photographic memory and the scientific method learned from her scientist parents to prove that she has been falsely accused of counter-terrorism. Each chapter provides a new problem interspersed within her daily routine and interactions with various classmates at the boarding school. Reminiscent of Encyclopedia Brown mysteries, although with the humorous interplay between Friday and her mis-matched friends, other subjects are subtlety addressed. The cliff hanging ending will have readers begging for the next episode. Gosier's pen and ink illustrations are scattered throughout and have a stylized cartoon quality to them that mirror that chaos that surround Friday.

Overall Book Score: good