The Unusual Suspects (Sisters Grimm Series #2) by Michael Buckley, Peter Ferguson (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

In book two of the series, the Sisters Grimm start school at Ferryport Landing Elementary. Daphne's lucky enough to get Snow White for a teacher-she loves little people-but poor Sabrina's stuck with Mr. Grumpner and a class of mildly psychotic sixth graders. When Mr. Grumpner is found hanging in a spider's web, it is up to the Grimms to find the Everafter who did it. If only Sabrina can get over her distrust of all fairy-tale folk. But how can she trust those who just might be responsible for the disappearance of her parents?

Carolyn Mott Ford - Children's Literature

This is book two in "The Sisters Grimm" series, which features sisters Sabrina and Daphne who solve mysteries with the help or the intrusion of Granny Relda and Elvis, their Great Dane. Their town of Ferryport Landing is populated with many Everafters. The Everafters are fairy-tale characters who escaped and use disguises along with a little magic to fit in with the humans in town. Only the sisters, descendants of the Brothers Grimm know the secrets of the Everafters and somehow the sisters are the town's sleuths who assist Sheriff Hamstead—who is actually one of the three little pigs—in coping with problems and criminal behavior. As the story unfolds, character after character, including Little Miss Muffet, Puck and Snow White, comes on the scene in a manner sure to bring laughs from kids who like a clever new story offering plenty of "Ah, ha!" moments as they recognize characters from stories of long ago. 2005, Amulet Books/Harry N. Abrams, Ages 8 to 12.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-In this second book in the series, Sabrina and Daphne continue their family's fairy-tale detective work in the Hudson River town of Ferryport Landing. The village has more than its share of "Everafters," a group of fairy-tale characters who escaped persecution in Europe by fleeing to America over 200 years ago. Here, the sisters start attending the local elementary school where the principal just happens to be the Pied Piper of Hamelin and Snow White is a most beloved teacher. Almost instantly, one of their teachers is found dead in his classroom, tied to the ceiling in a spider web. While investigating his murder, the girls uncover a devious plot and get closer to discovering the whereabouts of their missing parents. Free-spirited Daphne is a perfect foil for her older, grumpier sister, Sabrina, whose understandable anger over the loss of her parents is the main theme of this novel. There are as many references to frightening aspects of today's world as there are nods to folklore and sometimes both appear in the same sentence. While this mixing of sensibilities proves that fairy tales can be as dark as reality, it also occasionally trivializes truly upsetting modern problems such as nuclear weapons and child labor. The story is fast paced and the main characters are sympathetic and appealing. The abrupt ending will leave readers hungry for the next book in the series.-Kathleen Meulen, Blakely Elementary School, Bainbridge Island, WA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In a second outing every bit as hilarious and scary as the first, Sabrina and Daphne, the two young descendants of Wilhelm Grimm, no sooner start school in Ferryport Landing than the murders of a teacher and the custodian catapult them into a new investigation. Well-populated by figures from their many-times-great grandpa's tales, plus the likes of Geppetto, Prince Charming and Puck-all of whom are magically confined to the small Hudson River town for their own protection, but don't much like it-the tale unfolds amid encounters with bullies, monsters and large quantities of slime. It involves wild rides through the air and other threats to life and limb, and culminates in a subterranean face-off with Rumpelstiltskin, a goblin with a creepy fondness for children who has partnered with the Pied Piper for an escape attempt. Buckley halts the action a little too often to fill in the back story, and his climax is awkwardly staged-but all of his characters glow with interesting nuances, as they did in the first episode, and he closes this one on a genuinely disturbing cliffhanger. Definitely not bedtime reading. Occasional technically finished illustrations. (Fantasy. 12-14)

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