This book is a nice nod to Hitchcock -- I'm assuming that's what the Hollywood-writers intended -- with an intriguing mystery and some heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat moments.

I was surprised, though, that in a book seemingly intended for kids (the jacket reads "Ages 9 up"), the word "rapist" is used, in the context of a "Who knows who these people are?" discussion:
"This Vadim guy could be a ten-year-old boy, for all you know. Or a serial-rapist-vegetarian-robber-murderer."
The "serial-rapist-vegetarian-robber-murderer" phrase is repeated again later. Maybe I was a particularly sheltered 9-year-old, but when I was the recommended age for this book, I didn't know what a rapist was (although I did know what robbers and murderers and vegetarians were). It seems unnecessary to have included a word that would probably need explaining for many readers--a explanation that young readers may have a hard time understanding--when the use of the word wasn't at all necessary nor was it in any way relevant to the plot. ( )

Little Kid Reaction: Review pending.

Big Kid Reaction: The family dynamics are spot on, and the story moves fast with plenty of day-in-the-life humor. What makes the story particularly fun is the way that many of the misconceptions — often dropped into the story by Maddy — unravel. Upon arriving in Paris, the Hitchcocks unwittingly land in the middle of an international police investigation. The best part of the story is that not only do you learn more about the characters, you see that they learn about themselves and each other, too!

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

Entertaining! Similar to "The 39 Clues" series and Cuthbert Soup's "A whole nother story" and "Another whole nother story" ( )