Turning Pages Reads: THE SUPERNORMAL SLEUTHING SERVICE by GWENDA BOND & CHRISTOPHER ROWE

Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!

Happy Summer! It’s the bright, shiny time of year when you’re supposed to have lots of time to do nothing but read. Bring back those lazy, hazy, crazy school vacation days, right?! Well, if you can’t get time off of school – or work – the least you can do is pick up a book that brings you joy, right? This one will. Guaranteed.

Synopsis: Stephen Lawson’s life isn’t particularly interesting. Back home in Chicago, school, while okay, is just one of those things to put up with. Stephen’s been a loner, really; his Mom left them when he was a little guy, and his Dad is a busy chef. Stephan might be alone a lot, but he isn’t unloved. He and his Dad are buds, and the frequent letters from his “Chef Nana” prove that. Like most of the Lawson family, Stephen’s Nana is indeed a cooking genius who works at a hotel in New York. Her entertaining letters to Stephan are filled with funny stories about the colorful “monsters” for whom she cooks and caters. When Nana dies, Stephan’s life changes drastically. First, he and his father attend the service in New York… where he and his father will now be moving, now that Dad is taking over Nana’s job. Next, it turns out Dad’s part of some kind of knighthood…? Weirdest of all, Stephen learns that Nana hasn’t just been amusing him, with her funny stories of fauns and ghouls and vampires and stuff. She’s been telling him the truth. There are monsters – really “supernormals” in New York, a hotel full of them, in the New Harmonia Hotel… now Stephen’s new home.
But, not everyone is happy for Stephen to settle in…
Stephen’s second shock is to discover that his long-lost mother’s family is also staying at the hotel. The Baroness – he’s related to a baroness!! – has invited him to move in with them, but Stephen is a bit unsettled by that whole family — and later, by the fact that they’re not taking rejection well.

There’s a whole lot of Stephen’s life that’s suddenly much more interesting than he thought!

Observations: Because this thick and juicy novel (a full 407 pages) is a beginner’s mystery, I’m not going to be able to talk about it much except in the most general of terms, because readers will want to come to this spoiler-and-clue free. Like the very best of the Harry Potter novels – the first two, in my opinion – there are tons of new-things-per-page, the sorts of amazingly fun details that keep you turning pages, even when you’re supposed to a.) be going to bed, b.) be going to work. And while this book is marketed to middle graders, it’s an all-ages bit of fun — great for reading aloud before bedtime, and for sharing. I can imagine the audio version of this will be a hoot as well. This is authors Bond and Rowe’s first published attempt at writing together, and they have that rare magic in spades. I foresee this series really going some fun places.

Stephen Lawson is a kid who asks questions, which stands him in good stead. Instead of jumping to anger when an awkward person asks him an awkward question, he asks, “Did you just insult me?” Instead of accepting things the way they are, he asks, “How can I change this?” Stephen is always looking for loopholes, which is a great character trait for someone who is going to end up being a detective. Of course, Stephen didn’t know he was going to be a detective, but his loophole sense, his friend Ivan’s meticulous observations and preparedness and Sofia’s knowledge of social mores and hotel etiquette area all necessary things to make them the best junior supernormal sleuths in the hotel… second only to Ivan’s parents, of course. What all three of them possess is the ability to own their mistakes and keep moving. This will, in the long run, keep them friends, and help them solve the mystery.

Conclusion: With charm and humor, this sweet story of a boy embarking on a move — and discovering some truths about the world he’s never known — begins as comfortably and familiarly as a well-loved blanket. This blanket covers some strange bedfellows, however, and readers will be pleased by the diverse and genuine friendships, odd sidekicks, and amusing inanimates discovered therein – and they’ll be waiting eagerly for the additional adventures, too!

I received my copy of this book courtesy of the public library. You can find THE SUPERNORMAL SLEUTHING SERVICE by Gwenda Bond & Christopher Rowe at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!