The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow

Gr 4–6—Eleven-year-old Fairday Morrow and her family move from New York into the spooky, rundown Begonia House in the rural town of Ashpot, CT. While she misses her best friend and fellow Detective Mystery Squad member Lizzy, Fairday adapts fairly easily to her new school and becomes quickly intrigued by the mysterious estate she now inhabits, which was once home to a woman named Ruby Begonia, who vanished decades ago on the day of her wedding. Ruby's father died 20 years later without explanation. Soon learning that the house is haunted, Fairday enlists the help of a new friend from school named Marcus "Brocket the Rocket," and Lizzy, who is visiting Ashpot for the weekend. Together they discover the truth about the house and the Begonia family. Although the novel moves briskly and includes magic, action, and suspense, it also feels a bit standard. The influences of The Wizard of Oz and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe—both mentioned within the novel—are somewhat heavy-handed, as the mystery includes a pair of magical, bejeweled, red high-heeled sneakers and a mystical wardrobe that is a doorway to a parallel world. There is a underdeveloped subplot involving a group of bullies, and while Fairday and Lizzy's confidence in the face of their antagonists is admirable, it often comes across as didactic and unnecessary to the narrative. Muradov's illustrations are serviceable, and while they don't hinder the story, they don't add much, either. The mystery is neatly resolved, including an easy, magical way for Lizzy to visit Ashpot from New York on a regular basis, and the ending implies that there will be future books for the Detective Mystery Squad.