Bernie Magruder and the Bus Station Blow Up

From School Library Journal Grade 3-6?A lightweight mystery revolving around 11-year-old Bernie Magruder, son of the manager of the Bessledorf Hotel, and his two sleuthing buddies, Weasel and Georgene. Bomb is the fifth book in the series and is unfortunately untimely. Unlike the real world, in Naylor's cartoon creation nobody ever gets hurt as bombs go off in the bus depot, in the hotel entrance, and in the public swimming pool. Circumstantial evidence leads Bernie to proffer his 20-year-old sister as the perpetrator to Officer Feeney. Delores has just been jilted for a "Fort Wayne floozy" and openly expresses her death wish for her former beau, who just happens to have miraculously escaped each blast. The mystery is pretty weak and the young detective's insight, which saves the day (and, of course, Delores), is uninspired. Side stories revolve around (other) mistaken suspicions and the farcical assumption that Officer Feeney is after Delores's hand rather than her wrist. Many librarians will get their hackles raised by the blond librarian with the bright red lipstick who readily surrenders Bernie's siblings' circulation records to him. The family sitcom isn't very funny, and the various stereotypes just bumble along. Young readers won't mind breezing through these 25 chapters, but they'll hardly be challenged or enlightened.?John Sigwald, Unger Memorial Library, Plainview, TXCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From