THE MISSING SILVER DOLLAR
by Dorian Cirrone & illustrated by Liza Woodruff
This early chapter book follows multitasking fourth grader Lindy Blues as she tracks down stories for her weekly neighborhood news show. Assisted by her brother Alex and his hand-me-down camcorder, Lindy broadcasts from the “Lindy Blues Network Studio”—her garage. Curious and clever, she turns a slow news day into a buoyant first-person account, using math skills both to solve the titular mystery and help her friend Joshua win a toy rocket launch contest. Information about U.S. silver dollars is woven into the text, and Woodruff’s lively illustrations complement and extend the story. The use of the present tense, and Lindy’s tendency to refer to herself in the third person, seem stylistically right, given the busy girl’s dedication to her reportorial role. Tuned-in kids will enjoy Lindy’s inventiveness as she scoops some really local news. (Fiction. 7-9)