The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

September 21, 2015
Mixing realism and fantasy, Haight and Robinson’s debut opens with 11-year-old Fairday’s move from Manhattan to a small town in Connecticut, where her relentlessly cheerful parents plan to turn a dilapidated Victorian into a bed and breakfast. No sooner has the family arrived than eerie sights and sounds begin to haunt Fairday. The house turns out to hold dark secrets that everybody in town suspects but nobody can explain: a perfect mission for Fairday and her best friend Lizzy’s Detective Mystery Squad (DMS). The girls undergo inexplicable hair-raising experiences in the haunted house; when they enlist a clever local boy to join them, the plot thickens and the adventures grow even more bizarre and frightening (Muradov’s moody, angular b&w artwork plays right into the creepiness). While relying on the too-convenient device of discovering an old diary and on a retired newspaper reporter, the novel builds to an exciting climax that takes magic in stride and suggests that further mysteries await the DMS trio. Ages 10–up. Authors’ agent: Rachael Dugas, Talcott Notch Literary Services. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

September 15, 2015
Fifth-grader Fairday Morrow's new home lives up to its spooky reputation, but she and her companions in the Detective Mystery Squad find out why. At Begonia House, strains of bagpipe music issue from behind a padlocked door, grains of sand in an hourglass have stopped falling, and a malevolent weeping willow looms in the backyard. A magic mirror shows an invisible door; a wardrobe hides secrets and a portal. Ruby Begonia vanished more than 50 years ago. Is there also a ghost? Fairday has a new, helpful friend in classmate Marcus, and her best friend Lizzy can visit on weekends to help solve the mystery. What more could readers want? Alas, this contrived story unfolds through convenient coincidence. Too often, the writing tells rather than shows. Word choices give preference to vocabulary building rather than precision. The writers' didactic intentions are revealed through advice about dealing with bullies. Fairday often reads and references a "prized possession," her copy of The Wizard of Oz. She describes the "ruby- and diamond-covered high-heeled sneakers" that feature prominently in the story as "just like Dorothy's ruby slippers." She doesn't seem to realize the "ruby slippers" of the movie are "silver shoes" in the book she's supposedly heard and read countless times. But savvy readers will. A less-than-promising setup for a mystery series that will, no doubt, feature the enchanted old house and the magic shoes in sequels to come. (Mystery. 8-12)

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October 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-Eleven-year-old Fairday Morrow and her family move from New York into the spooky, rundown Begonia House in the rural town of Ashpot, CT. While she misses her best friend and fellow Detective Mystery Squad member Lizzy, Fairday adapts fairly easily to her new school and becomes quickly intrigued by the mysterious estate she now inhabits, which was once home to a woman named Ruby Begonia, who vanished decades ago on the day of her wedding. Ruby's father died 20 years later without explanation. Soon learning that the house is haunted, Fairday enlists the help of a new friend from school named Marcus "Brocket the Rocket," and Lizzy, who is visiting Ashpot for the weekend. Together they discover the truth about the house and the Begonia family. Although the novel moves briskly and includes magic, action, and suspense, it also feels a bit standard. The influences of The Wizard of Oz and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe-both mentioned within the novel-are somewhat heavy-handed, as the mystery includes a pair of magical, bejeweled, red high-heeled sneakers and a mystical wardrobe that is a doorway to a parallel world. There is a underdeveloped subplot involving a group of bullies, and while Fairday and Lizzy's confidence in the face of their antagonists is admirable, it often comes across as didactic and unnecessary to the narrative. Muradov's illustrations are serviceable, and while they don't hinder the story, they don't add much, either. The mystery is neatly resolved, including an easy, magical way for Lizzy to visit Ashpot from New York on a regular basis, and the ending implies that there will be future books for the Detective Mystery Squad. VERDICT Although not particularly remarkable, this title is a decent offering for those looking for a middle grade mystery novel with a supernatural twist.-Laura J. Giunta, Garden City Public Library, NY

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2015
Grades 4-7 When 11-year-old Fairday Morrow moves into a crumbling Victorian manor with her parents, who intend to open a bed-and-breakfast, she knows she has a perfect case for her club, the Detective Mystery Squad. The house is clearly haunted: Bagpipe music wafts from the third floor; a rickety balcony overlooks a willow tree that, in the right circumstances, comes alive; and a standing mirror acts as a portal to the same house frozen in the past. The DMS discovers the fate of Ruby Begonia, who went missing 50 years ago, and the magical secrets of the house. Though their investigation relies on exposition from run-ins with an elderly reporter and a hidden diary, and the awkwardly formal word choices ( Her eagerness about the upcoming weekend empowered her fingers to move in rapid keystrokes ) are plain odd, this paranormal mystery will be of interest to young readers looking for something spooky but not violent or scary. Muradov's quirky, angular illustrations complement the story well.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)