Andrew Sharmat

Rosamund is throwing a backyard birthday party for her cousin Lizzy and invites Nate (even though he's never met Lizzy) to join. Nate is less than thrilled to attend when he learns that Lizzy is the proud pet owner of four large snakes -- the largest of whom goes missing the day of the party. Nate, his dog Sludge, and all the party attendees are on the search to find the missing the snake.

This long-running series seems to be popular (especially with elementary school teachers assigning projects to students), but this is the first title I've ever picked up. What was nice is that it didn't really seem to matter that I never read one of the series before -- the main characters are identified right away and that seems to be all you need to know in order to enjoy this book. Speaking of characters, other than one African-American party-goer, this book is lacking in any diversity. I also didn't really care for one character being named "Crazy Craig," as I dislike this slur for the mentally ill being bandied about so carelessly.

The mystery in the book is fairly simply (as it is its denouement), but it's a good introduction to the genre for young readers. Nate searches for clues and there are a couple of red herrings (although not identified as such). The language is a bit dull at times, but this is often a consequence of being an introductory text for new readers. Personally, Nate referring to himself as "I, Nate the Great," all the time was a little grating. With the simple sentences contained within short chapters, this is a good book for those young readers who are starting to transition from basic early readers but aren't quite ready for long chapter books yet.… (plus d'informations)