Customer Reviews

Fading Tracks (Faithgirlz! / Boarding School Mysteries)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jeri McKane is a sixth grader at a boarding school who's a reporter for the school newspaper and also thinks of herself as an amateur sleuth. One day her detective skills are put to the test when a bus carrying a load of students, including Jeri's roommate, never returns. Clues lead to something sinister happening. Can Jeri fend off nosy reporters and snippity headmistresses to find out what really happened to her friends?

This is a new mystery series that is aimed at the tweener set and revolves around the lives of girls at the Landmark School for Girls. It's set a a boarding school location, which I adore because for some reason, I find boarding schools to be fascinating. Jeri is a character that is dealing with her parents divorce and feeling that she's not an important factor in her lives.Therefore she throws herself into her life at school to forget about those problems. Her character is very dimensional and grows throughout the story. She's very likable and if I were that age, I would like to have her as a friend. I thought the mystery was really good as it took me a while to figure out what really had happened to the missing students. It was quite intense and more complicated than what I had expected.

While it's a cute story and has a really good mystery for the younger set, there were some parts of the book I felt to be unbelievable. I just didn't buy some of the responses of the adults in the story. I also didn't like the headmistress and how she handled the situation. There are some parts that may be too intense for young readers such as child abduction and possible death. Therefore I would say this book is for at least readers of the tween age. However for those who can handle it, it's a great read and a fun way to spend an afternoon reading. These are perfect for Nancy Drew fans who are looking for something different to read. If you have a tween that loves mysteries, this book is definitely recommended.

Funded by a full ride scholarship, Jeri McKane attends swanky Landmark Boarding School. On the end of the "have not's" Jerri feels out of place amongst the "haves." Overwhelmed by homesickness Jeri soon becomes distracted with an unexpected mystery ready to be solved. Her roommate Rosa and several other classmates disappear into thin air while en-route back to Landmark via school bus. How is this possible, when there is only one way in and out on the mountain? Jeri's keen reporting and research skills are put to the test at this time of crisis. Especially, since the adults in charge do not seem to be making any progress in their search and rescue attempts.

Jeri decides to conduct her own investigation, much to the chagrin of the authority figures in charge. Navigating the twists and turns and sorting the truths from the lies, Jeri makes a startling discovery. But can she make it in time?

Kristi Holl presents an action paced mystery with the power of one's faith for an exhilarating read.

This book kept me guessing right up to the end. The characters are so real. These are kids I would want to know.

Twelve-year-old Jerri McKane is distraught to hear her roommate and several other girls from Landmark School for Girls are missing after they didn't return from a school field trip. What is more startling is the purple and yellow school van was spotted traveling along a two-lane road bordering a lake, but was not seen coming out the other end. What happened to the bus? Did it careen on black ice or was there foul play?

Amateur sleuth Jerri McKane will stop at nothing to find out what happened to the bus, even if it means risking her own life.

I was riveted to the edge of my seat wondering what happened to that bus. The author's carefully laid red herring left me totally clueless. I couldn't figure out what happened and I didn't know who to trust. The characterization of the cantankerous head mistress, the overzealous T.V. reporter, and the blue-haired, nose-ringed news camera woman made the story come to life.

Advanced readers too young to handle the likely reasons the children disappeared: possible accidental death, possible child abduction, and possible murder should not read this story just yet. I wouldn't want the little ones to suffer from bad dreams.

But middle school-aged children through adults will enjoy Fading Tracks as Jerri learns to "trust God when the world doesn't seem to make sense."