The Thanksgiving Day Parade Mystery

Mickey Dixon wants to be a detective when she grows up. Her twin, Kate, wants to be a scientist. When the Chatham Strutters marching band disappears less than two hours before the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, both girls bring their special skills to the case. Mickey is the first to get involved, discovering that the bank has been robbed and figuring that this incident is linked to the band's disappearance. But it's Kate who notices clay caked in the tires of the band's school bus and narrows down the number of places the band could be. Working together, the twins, the police and the banker find the band and the ""robber'' who didn't rob the bank, but just staged the incident to get the bank interested in buying his special safes. The parade goes on. This is a small mystery, only slightly far-fetched, and the solutions the twins provide seem realistic. Mickey and Kate's separate needs to assert their individuality without resorting to the good/evil formula is refreshingly novel. (7-10)