Vanishing Act: Mystery at the U.S. Open
Grade 6-9–InLast Shot(Knopf, 2005), 13-year-old amateur sportswriters Susan Carol Anderson and Stevie Thomas uncovered a plot to throw a championship game in the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. Now they meet once again, this time in New York City to help cover the U.S. Open Tennis tournaments. Susan Carol's uncle, a new agent for an up-and-coming female tennis player, lives in Manhattan and offers them a place to stay. When the Russian tennis sweetheart Nadia Symanova is kidnapped right before her first match, Stevie begins to suspect that Susan Carol's uncle is involved. The mystery maintains a genuine level of suspense throughout the story. Many superfluous figures are introduced, and it can be difficult to keep them straight, especially when they are referred to by first name in one chapter and last name in another. Although the main characters are predictable, the use of kid-friendly terminology, contemporary personalities in the tennis world, and factual information about the game may appeal to savvy tennis fans.–D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.