Kathryn Reiss

When I started this, I thought "oh man, American Girl's about to teach kids about communes: let's see how well this goes in chapterbook format" but, it was really well crafted- a mystery with multiple potential suspects (and enough tells to indicate some obvious ones were red herrings but still stringing the reader along) and planting some seeds for young readers to think about how farm communities can change to stay afloat while not betraying their structure. Like [b:The Tangled Web: A show more Julie Mystery|4520292|The Tangled Web A Julie Mystery (American Girl Mysteries)|Kathryn Reiss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1416035167l/4520292._SX50_.jpg|4569374], the Vietnam War floats indirectly as the reason why some of the adults have made certain choices, but as Julie is a 10 year old, she doesn't know the nitty gritty details of that. show less

One of the unintentional themes of my 2019 reading is a review of juvenile Asian American historical fiction that I've read or wish I could've read when I was younger, and this is the third book so far that's covered the Angel Island detainment experience ([b:The Fire Horse Girl|14746310|The Fire Horse Girl|Kay Honeyman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358879637l/14746310._SX50_.jpg|20395318] is decidedly YA; [b:The Dragon's Child: A Story of Angel show more Island|2651237|The Dragon's Child A Story of Angel Island|Laurence Yep|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348607341l/2651237._SY75_.jpg|2097030] is biographical and I feel like the Jimmy Yep character might be a nod to Laurence here).

As with the other Julie books, I really wish Ivy had been the lead here- while I do respect Julie as a character, and she's the perfect proxy for most readers (who I assume are predominantly white and/or not aware of Asian American history) it's a little strange that she's putting forth all this effort and energy into solving the mystery behind what happened to Ivy's grandmother's friend. Maybe because it's a distraction from the kinda-on-the-nose parallel in her own home with a newcomer coming to stay with them for a few months? I haven't read the Marie Grace and Cecile books yet, but I do wonder if a co-lead series would've worked here. Ivy was/is the only Asian American historical character (something I desperately wanted as a kid in the '90s), but isn't currently available except via this and her own bonus book. It sometimes feels like there's an assumption that Asian Americans are recent immigrant waves with no discernible history, but we've had a presence in North America for over a century and a half despite the "best" efforts of xenophobic policy makers attempting to block immigration.

Still, this book is well-written and the Chinatown elders being reluctant to revisit painful parts of the past rings true to the tight lips encountered when asking my aunties questions about my own Gung-gung and Po-po who passed before I was born. Early on we get a good introduction to the kind of questions immigration officials asked detainees with Po Po's crib sheet from her mother- how many steps in the stairs of your house? How many houses on your street? Who was your teacher, and where did they live? I've read the transcripts for one of my great-grandfather's interview and they really WERE that intense. Introducing young readers to the first immigration restrictions in the United States is a crucial reminder as we repeat history of detaining some immigrants for unspecified amounts of time in an unnecessarily cruel and arbitrary system.

Probably should have some more words for Julie herself here too- unlike [b:Good Luck, Ivy|976423|Good Luck, Ivy (American Girls Julie)|Lisa Yee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348021531l/976423._SX50_.jpg|961319] or [b:Happy New Year, Julie 1974|1840745|Happy New Year, Julie 1974 (American Girls Julie #3)|Megan McDonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347806474l/1840745._SX50_.jpg|1840961] it definitely has the period vibe (Julie's sister Tracy is on the school committee for the Valentine Disco, one of Andrew Ling's friends is really into the Green Hornet (but why not Kato? Though I'd guess that's probably Andrew's fave because he was played by Bruce Lee!), phone accessibility, etc.) How groovy. I didn't recognize two of Julie's school friends, and I wonder if they're from the other Julie mystery books? There wasn't a specific order so I kind of went specifically for the one that I knew I'd be interested in.

tl;dr I really liked this but I'm still frustrated that Ivy isn't the main character and that this also could've been an #ownvoices book (and sure, to answer an inevitable "why don't you write what you want to see" I could try but cribbing from family history would take some digging and I know that's not entirely mine to share, but! I know I'm far from the only 3 gen ABC) show less

Cleaning through my library pile for the end of the year! Also feeling a tad completionist since i've read other Julie mysteries and should just get through them all.

The Silver Guitar is a classic whodunnit when a precious cultural artifact (not!JimiHendrix's guitar) goes missing before an auction to benefit sea birds dying from an oil spill in San Francisco's bay. Suspects include the rich people's live-in nephew, the nosy neighbor, the housekeeper, and the skateboard kid, among others. show more Julie also learns that the world isn't black and white and even though it'd be nice to paint the oil tankers as evil, maybe they had a bad day doing their jobs so society can continue to be fueled (but also heyyyy oil companies have definitely contributed to stifling moves to prevent climate catastrophe so maybe a mixed lesson here). show less

My library puts certain stickers on the spine of books - so if you're looking for 'historical' or 'mystery', you look for the 'mystery' sticker, instead of wandering around reading dust jackets like a goon. It's very nice. (This book had a ghost on the spine.)

The author profile lists a number of previous books for Ms. Reiss, which surprised me, because this novel reads as a first attempt - or maybe Reiss is just not confident. So many things about this book seem to be not quite worked out. show more The language only works occasionally, the plot is uneven, the scary-ghost-problem is solved a little bit too easily (after almost 400 pages of will-nothing-work?) ... Also, the main protagonist's name is Zibby (short for Isabel), a fact that irritated me every time I read it (twenty times per page). (The second protagonist is named Primrose, but I was able to ignore that more easily.)

... My main problem is with the characters, who seem to be self-motivated, but (with the exception of Laura-Jane) have no apparent reality outside of the plot. Nell's catering business is only extant when it's necessary to have Zibby taste a cookie, or whatever; Jude's father is in Kenya so he can (spoiler alert!) fall off a cliff; et cetera. I know authors try to keep the 'noise' to a minimum, and I appreciate it, but after a while I was thinking to myself "Oh, that character is wearing chandelier earrings? How will this be useful to Zibby?"

Maybe I'm expecting too much from a juvenile book. But then I think back to what can be done (Pam Conrad, Robin McKinney, William Sleator) and I'm disappointed all over again. There isn't any reason that a children's book cannot be enjoyed by adults, & this one just needs that extra je ne sais quoi to elevate it.

This isn't a bad read, and if I were nine or ten I'd probably enjoy it. But would I read it again? show less