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Summary
Summary
A hard-to-prove art heist makes a New York City mystery for ninja detective Randi Rhodes in this second book in a series full of humor, adventure, and heart from Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer.
Randi Rhodes and her fellow ninja detectives, DC and Pudge, were flying high after solving the Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit. But life in sleepy Deer Creek has begun to feel...a bit boring. There are no crimes to investigate! But a trip to New York City to visit Randi's aunt changes that! While the ninja detective trio explores Randi's old neighborhood in Brooklyn, they uncover an art heist. Except no one will believe them. So they'll just have to catch the criminals in the act...
Author Notes
A veteran character actress and one of Hollywood's most sought-after talents, Octavia Spencer has become a familiar fixture on both television and silver screen. Her critically acclaimed performance as Minny in the DreamWorks feature film The Help won her a 2012 Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a SAG Award, and a Broadcast Film Critics' Choice Award, among countless other honors. Octavia is a native of Montgomery, Alabama, and holds a BS in Liberal Arts from Auburn University. She lives in Los Angeles. Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective: The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit was her first novel.
Vivienne To has illustrated several books, including The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins and the Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective series by Octavia Spencer. As a child, she had two pet mice escape. She currently lives in Sydney, Australia, with her partner and her ginger cat. Visit her at VivienneTo.com.
Reviews (4)
Horn Book Review
Ninja detectives Randi Rhodes, D.C. Cruz, and Pudge Taylor head from Deer Creek, Tennessee, to Brooklyn to celebrate Thanksgiving with Randi's wild and mysterious aunt Gigi. The young sleuths find themselves investigating mysteriously disappearing Fabergi eggs and sugar-scented Russian mobsters and battling family crises. Spencer's fun-filled, action-packed sequel offers humor, diverse characters, and an appendix of "ninja tasks. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Twelve-year-old Randi and her friends D. C. and Pudge love solving crimes as the Ninja Detectives. But the biggest crime in Deer Creek, Tennessee, is the verbal bullying of the banker's daughter, so it takes a Thanksgiving trip to Randi's aunt Gigi in Brooklyn to make things interesting. The Brooklyn Museum is opening an exhibit of Fabergé eggs, and Randi and her friends suspect some Russians in her aunt's apartment building of planning to steal the eggs. The Ninja Detectives navigate personal issues as well, particularly family relationships and self-image issues. Though the second in a series, this middle-school novel can stand alone and is a solid choice for reluctant readers of both genders. Spencer has created a clever mystery reminiscent with historical references and a clear sense of place that also offers a satisfying emotional resolution. Providing a list of ninja tasks at the end of the book, she may make heroes of us all.--Moore, Melissa Copyright 2015 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-7-Randi was not thrilled about moving with her father to Tennessee, but life got a little better after she met best friends Pudge and D.C. and they formed the crimefighting ninja detective club. School has begun and the only crimes they have to investigate are jack o'lantern smashings, a rogue opossum, and a young graffiti artist. Bored and missing her late mother, Randi is thrilled when they all get to return to Brooklyn for Thanksgiving. They get more excitement than they bargained for, though, when they become involved in a new case after discovering suspicious activity surrounding the Fabergé egg exhibit at a nearby art gallery. Author and narrator Spencer skillfully transitions between adult and juvenile characters and truly shines when she turns on the southern charm with the minor characters in Deer Creek, TN. VERDICT Although kids are sure to enjoy the action scenes and ninja moves, it is the diverse cast of characters that is most interesting. The children's relationships with their parents are complicated, and many kids will relate to how they each struggle with figuring out how they fit into their own families.-Theresa Horn, St. Joseph County Public Library, South Bend, IN © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Deer Creek's middle school ninja detectives of The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit (2013) take on crime in New York City. There's not a lot of excitement and crime in Deer Creek, so Randi can't wait for her Thanksgiving visit with her Brooklyn aunt. But her father's publisher wants to send him on a book tour that week, devastating Randi when he chooses work over family. Luckily, Pudge's dad offers Randi and D.C. (whose father has just canceled his Thanksgiving visit, which would have been the first visit in years) a ride to New York, as it's on the way to Pudge's grandmother in Boston. They talk Pudge's dad into letting him stay in New York, beginning his rule-free vacationa comedic subplot. But the museum across from her aunt's apartment is hosting an exhibition of priceless Faberg eggs, and shady characters are circling. Around their uncovering a mob boss' schemes, Randi and D.C. grow through their subplots. D.C.'s attempts to locate his father undermine his confidence but bring him into contact with a personal hero and an exciting opportunity. Randi learns cool secrets about her deceased mother, which she absorbs with believable complexity. Ultimately, they help her to come to a mature understanding of her father. The character development gracefully augments the fun high jinks of the heist storyline. Good sleuthing fun supported by compelling character arcs. (spy tips, crafts, recipes) (Mystery. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
The Sweetest Heist in History CHAPTER ONE THE HEIST Randi Rhodes pressed a button on her walkie-talkie and whispered into the receiver, "Target is approaching from due south, heading in the direction of the Deer Creek Bank. Ninja Two, can you make a visual ID?" "Negative, Ninja One," came D.C. Cruz's hushed reply. "Target is wearing a hat and sunglasses. And how 'bout that--sparkly purple sneakers. Looks like a female to me." Randi ran through a list of suspects in her head. None of them would be caught dead in purple sneakers. The shoes had to be part of the thief's disguise. "This is Ninja Three. Target just entered the alley next to the bank," Pudge Taylor reported. "Let's give her a minute and then move in at exactly"--Randi checked the watch on her wrist. She never allowed cell phones on stakeouts. They had a way of ringing or lighting up at the very worst moments. So the three ninjas wore watches, and their timepieces were perfectly synchronized--"six fifty-two," she ordered. "Roger that," her colleagues replied in unison. Randi took the opportunity to check Founders' Square for other signs of activity. It was a flat, grassy park in the center of sleepy Deer Creek, Tennessee. In the fall and winter, when the tourists who came to Deer Creek for the fishing were gone, the stores surrounding the square closed up early. That night in Founders' Square, only the bakery was still serving customers. There was no one in the park who might interfere with the ninjas' operation. Randi sat back on her haunches and grinned. Dressed in black from head to toe, she was all but invisible in the dark. Anyone strolling through Founders' Square would never have spotted her crouched behind the monument in the center of the park. Her pulse was racing, and despite the chill in the air, her palms were sweating. Randi hadn't felt so alive since the previous summer, when the ninja detectives had solved their first case together. That's right, she thought. Let's show them that the last case wasn't a fluke. The world's greatest crime-fighting team lives right here in the middle of nowhere. And we're not going to let this town forget it. ~ ~ ~ ~ It had been five months since Randi and her father had sold their house in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Deer Creek, Tennessee. Her first summer in the mountains had been unexpectedly thrilling. Randi had made two new best friends, formed the crime-fighting Ninja Detectives Club, and solved the Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit. But the excitement had come to an abrupt end with the start of school. Since August, she and her fellow ninja detectives, D.C. Cruz and Pudge Taylor, had been forced to take a series of second-rate cases. In September, they'd wrangled a rogue opossum that was terrorizing the sheriff's pet chickens. Then they'd collared a third-grade graffiti artist who enjoyed drawing unflattering portraits of fifth graders on the bathroom stalls at school. At the end of October, Randi and her team had investigated a series of jack-o'-lantern squashings. That case had seemed quite promising at first. Randi had hoped that the vandalism might be the work of teenage thugs or Halloween haters. But the culprit had turned out to be an ordinary bear that had wandered out of the woods one night with a hankering for half-rotten pumpkin. Excerpted from The Sweetest Heist in History by Octavia Spencer All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
