Sisterhood of Sleuths

Aspiring filmmaker Maizy has long enjoyed making movies with stuffed animals and toys, but as she heads into sixth grade, her best friend Izzy pivots from this shared interest to wearing makeup and chatting with boys. The two stop speaking after Maizy—ensconced in a lobster costume for the friends’ language arts project, movie Shellfish Holmes—crashes in front of Izzy as well as some boys who subsequently take credit for her work. Maizy joins up with two other classmates, Cam and Nell, and the new group opts to investigate the mysterious appearance of a box of potentially collectible Nancy Drew books outside Maizy’s mother’s vintage store. Though the box contains a 1993 picture of Maizy’s grandmother, Jacuzzi, with two other women, Jacuzzi vehemently denies leaving the books. Humorous events follow as the students trail the box’s origin, and its association with Jacuzzi and the series, for a documentary. Initially slow pacing evolves into a pleasantly cozy mystery from Chambliss Bertman (the Book Scavenger series), which looks into Nancy Drew’s social history while balancing a parallel arc of friendships lost and found. Final art not seen by PW. Most characters read as white; Nell is of Indian descent. Ages 9–14. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Lori Kilkelly, LK Literary. (Oct.)