Mo LoBeau is a rising sixth-grader in the tiny town of Tupelo Landing, North Carolina. She's a slick talking girl whose best friend is a boy named Dale Earnhardt Johnson III. Mo lives with adoptive parents: Miss Lana, a wig-wearing eccentric cafe owner, and the Colonel, a man with no memory of his past who calls Mo "soldier" (affectionately) and hates lawyers. Mo and Dale decide to become detectives when a local man is murdered and the only suspects seem to be Dale and the Colonel.

Sheila Turnage's first middle grade novel is exciting, funny, suspenseful, and full of super loveable characters. I can only talk about the flaws in the books by mentioning spoilers, so I won't.

Actually, I will here: If Miss Lana knew the Colonel's past all along, why didn't she tell him? Twelve years is a long, long time to keep that kind of thing to yourself.

A few notes for future reference:

1. Dale's father is an abusive drunk. Pretty heavy topic for an otherwise mostly lighthearted book. Actually, what's lighthearted about trying to find a murderer?

2. I guess the best way to describe the tone of the book would be heightened realism. There's no magic or anything, but could a baby really wash up in a hurricane? Is any kid as clever and silver tongued as Mo? Would a sheriff (or any grown-up) really let kids get involved in a murder investigation?

3. Mo is always writing her to "upstream" mother AKA her biological mother who either abandoned her or lost her. Part of Mo's journey is accepting that she has loving adoptive parents and she doesn't always need to be searching for her "real" family.

4. Mo's super crush on Dale's older brother Lavender is completely adorable. She's sure she's going to marry Lavender and he is completely crush worthy.

5. I absolutely adore a quirky and memorable narrator, which Mo totally is. Her voice, which is funny, clever, spunky and full of Southern charm, will stay with me.

6. Read-alike authors (funny, clever, quirky): Frank Cottrell Boyce, Ellen Potter, Jack Gantos, Polly Horvath

7. I loved Mo's voice so much, I went out and got the audiobook, which was fantastic. ( )

Independent Reading Level: Grades 2 - 8
ALA Notable Children's Books (2013)
John Newberry Medal (2013) ( )

Some of the best characters! Really great audio version. ( )

This book wasn't my cup of tea because the characters seemed to speak too much like they were on a sitcom. I just couldn't really believe in them. I liked the mystery and the setting enough to stick with it. It would be an exciting class read. ( )

I listened to the audio version, which may have made me like this novel a bit more than usual. Michal Friedman does an amazing job of narrating this wonderfully refreshing story. ( )