The Cry of the Loon: A Samantha Mystery (American Girl Mysteries Series) Book

Samantha can't wait to take Nellie to Piney Point, Grandmary's summer home in the mountains. But the girls arrive to find the lodge plagued with accidents--and Grandmary begins to think about selling. Samantha and Nellie must figure out what's going on before they lose Piney Point forever! An illustrated "Looking Back" essay provides facts about the Adirondacks' grand lodges at the turn of the last century.

Children's Literature

The "American Girls" have been the "girl power" series for quite some time now. In this latest installment, readers are taken back to the Adirondacks at the turn of the century. Samantha is excited about bringing her friend Nellie to meet her grandmother and to see the lodge; however, when she gets there, she begins to hear stories about accidents that seem to keep happening to the lodge and surrounding buildings. Grandmother thinks it is a sign that maybe they should sell the lodge to a developer that has been pressuring her, but Samantha and Nellie think a conspiracy may be at work. They set off to solve the mystery with an ever changing list of suspects including the manager's two annoying sons and a traveling painter who keeps showing up. For readers familiar with the "American Girls," this novel will be one more to add to their collection. The mystery makes sense, and the solution is a surprise, even though the clues are evident after the fact. The girls are likeable and easy to admire; however, readers who do not know about the series may have trouble following a few parts because the author expects them to know how the two girls and their two other traveling companions are related and at times refers back to situations that did not happen in this novel. It is a series book, and fans of this series will like it. Reviewer: Heather Robertson Mason