Max Finder Mystery Collected Casebook Volume 4

April 5, 2010
As a modern-day Sherlock Holmes in junior high, Max Finder runs through the pages solving short but interesting mysteries and encouraging readers to help him. While the fourth book in the series, it's easy for new readers to dive right in thanks to character explanations in the beginning. There are 13 mystery tales in all, three of which are short stories; the rest are in comic book form. Each story has a central mystery—like “Who stole the museum's painting?” “Who cheated at chess?” “Who planted the stink bomb?”—that gets solved on the last page, right after Max asks the readers if they've figured it out. On the last page of each story the perpetrator is named, along with how and why he or she committed the crime. Clues are laid out for the sharp eye and clever reader in everything from dialogue to art details in the background, which the clean, inviting art by Perez makes a pleasure to search for. This series is aimed for children and up, so in general younger readers might sift for clues while adults find them with much more ease. These stories previously ran in Owl
magazine. Ages 8–up.

September 1, 2010

Gr 4-8-Max Finder and his friend Alison often work together to solve mysteries that happen in and around their Canadian hometown of Whispering Meadows. Ten of the stories are in comic form, and three are straight narratives, but they all have the same basic structure: a crime is committed, the kids collect clues and interview suspects, and Max or Alison announces that he or she knows who the culprit is. Readers then turn the page to see whodunit and why. Because the short stories originally appeared serialized in Owl magazine, the episodes can be somewhat repetitive, an issue that may be solved simply by not reading the book cover to cover. The mysteries also seem a bit too easy to solve-sometimes readers can successfully intuit the guilty party without the benefit of any of the clues at all. Still, they're a lot of fun, and the addition of visual clues to the familiar minute-mystery format enhances the enjoyment. The good news is that for fans of Max Finder, there are three previous volumes to devour.-Jason M. Poole, Webster Public Library, NY

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2010
Grades 3-5 In this volume of stories, middle-school detectives Max Finder and Alison Santos investigate cases, most in comic-book format and a few in prose. They help to find a missing painting, discover who stole a rare collectible game card, investigate whos perpetrating pranks on the schools master prankster, and more. The book asks the reader to solve each case before turning the page to reveal the mysterys solution. The colorful, cartoony art provides visual clues, and the storiesset in the school and neighborhoodfeature a multicultural cast. Young mystery readers, especially Encyclopedia Brown fans, will have fun with this book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)