I So Don't Do Mysteries

by Barrie Summy

Book Overview

Laughs, ghosts, and a lip-gloss-loving teen sleuth Sherry (short for Sherlock) Holmes Baldwin is spending spring break in California with her best friend, Junie. She can't wait to hang out in the sun,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385736037
• ISBN13: 9780385736039
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Random House Children's Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Best Book Ever!!

This book is great!!! Sherry is so realistic! Even though this book is definetly fiction, I can totally realate to the problems Sherry faces with school and friends. I have a best freind just like Junie (Sherry's best friend and a super smart girl) so I can understand the way she can be somewhat annoying sometimes. I love ghost stories and mysteries so this a perfect book for me. I just couldn't put down this book!

Creative book

Originally posted on my blog: http://mrsvsreviews.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-so-dont-do-mysteries.html I So Don't Do Mysteries is a creative book exploring mother daughter relationships and having a first boyfriend all in the midst of a life or death mystery (for a rhino at least). Sherry already had a lot to deal with: regular 7th grade drama, her mother's death, and her dad's impending marriage with "The Ruler". Then, the unexpected happens, and her mother starts to visit her and tells her that she will only be able to continue her visits if Sherry helps her solve a mystery enabling her to stay at an Academy of Spirits. Sherry is desperate to build a close relationship with her mom that she always yearned for when she was alive, but she is skeptical that she will be able to pull it off. It was fun to see the twists and turns the investigation took. Summy is currently at work on another I So Don't Do... book. I can't wait to see what the next one will be about.

Funny and fabulous for tweens and teens!

Title: I SO Don't Do Mysteries Author: Barrie Summy Pages: 264 Delacorte Press Date of Publication: December 9, 2008 Genre: Mystery Recommended to: Tween girls, 10-13 Rating: A Sherlock ("Sherry") Holmes Baldwin is not the mystery-solving type, despite her name. In fact, she's the polar opposite of Nancy Drew: she'd rather spend her time gorging on Oreos, shopping at the mall, hanging with her nerdy-but-sweet best friend Junie, trying to avoid her new stepmother, and fantasizing about her major crush, Josh Morton. But then Sherry's former cop of a mom suddenly contacts her from the ghost world and requests her assistance: she's flunking out of the Academy of Spirits, and needs Sherry's help to solve a mystery that will secure her a spot in a successful afterlife. Unfortunately, Sherry so doesn't do mysteries, but before she knows it, she's being whisked to San Diego, California, with Junie and her bratty teenage cousin to solve a conflict that includes a poacher, a bunch of innocent rhinos, a chef looking for revenge, and a group of crazy old people! Can Sherry save her mom's afterlife, save the rhinos, and get Josh to like her back? It's going to be one crazy spring break... First off: I gotta say that I love Sherry: she's positively hilarious. She's realistic and always comes up with the craziest lies and smartest plans. Ms. Summy's dialogue is straight-to-the-point and realistic, with teenager lingo and great details. The plot flowed smoothly and was easy to get into: from the exciting climax on, it was extremely difficult to put the funny, cute book down. I loved all the crazy characters and their actions, which sometimes had me cracking up (Old people plotting serious revenge? Crazy chefs? What isn't there to love?). Perhaps my most favorite aspect of the story was how unique I SO Don't Do Mysteries was. The plot was totally different from any other YA book I've ever read: Ms. Summy incorporated romance into the storyline without it being trashy; the mystery that needed to be solved was fresh and serious but at the same time funny; and the way the strong, funny characters handled things was absolutely refreshing. I also enjoyed how you could clearly hear Sherry's voice in the narration: it was positively fresh and real. All in all, I give Barrie Summy's upcoming mystery two big thumbs up and can't wait to check out the sequel (coming out in mid-2009, or so I heard), I So Don't Do Spooky. Hopefully it will be as good as the first!

I So Love This Book!

Funny, funny, funny - this book has a laugh on every page. Hys-TERICAL! Sherry is a delight - a fresh voice for tweeners. I can't wait to see what Barrie Summy does next!

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Sherry's got typical seventh grade issues. She's not so great at school and she's got a serious crush on Josh, an uber cute eighth grader, and makes an unforgettable impression on him by bloodying his nose. Plus, her dad's engaged to Paula, the math teacher at school, aka The Ruler. But if you're thinking that I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES is just another book about an everyday teen who just wants to be loved, you'd be so wrong. There's nothing normal about Sherry's spring break. You see, Sherry had big plans for her break, plans that involved sleeping in, shopping, and then more shopping with her best friend, Junie. Until her dad told her that he and The Ruler have moved up their wedding date to this weekend. And she'll have to spend her break in San Diego with her aging great-aunt. Course, that's better than staying with her little brother at her dotty old grandma's house. The same one who believes in ghosts and thinks she communicates with the spirits. Shoot, she even thinks her dead husband is a bird. How weird is that? When Sherry goes outside to curl up in her favorite pear tree, her mother (who, by the way, was killed in the line of duty a year and a half ago), shows up in a rush of wind and a cloud of coffee, and Sherry's no longer sure what's weird and what's not. Even stranger, it turns out her mother needs her help solving a case of unauthorized banana treats at a rhino enclosure in (you'll never guess) San Diego! Her? Sherry? Go undercover? Think on her feet? Solve a mystery? No way. Sherry's always been the one most likely to mess up, if she doesn't freeze up first. But no matter how bizarre it all sounds, her mother needs her. Actually needs her! It doesn't take long to convince her dad to send Junie with her to San Diego, even if it does mean she's also going to have to put up with Junie's older cousin, Amber. Soon, Sherry's up to her elbows in meringue and buckets of coffee, pounding the pavement like a regular ol' sleuth till she's got blisters on her feet. Who's trying to kill the rhinos and why? Will she be able to find out in time to save them? Will her directionally-challenged mother be able to find her so they can work together as she promised? Can she trust Junie with her secret? And what about Josh? Will he forget she even exists while she's gone? I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES is a funny, engaging debut novel and Sherry's antics will keep you turning pages since nothing happens as expected. Ms. Summy's title suggest she so doesn't do mysteries, but I believe she does them very, very well, and I surely hope she will be brewing up more mysteries for Sherry and her mother in the future. Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger