Absorbing enough to read straight through. A good day’s entertainment. ( )

I really love this book! It's very wonderful and exciting and clever, despite the cover :) ( )

Florian Bates has lived all over the world because of his parents' jobs working in museums. When he moves to Washington DC, he meets Margaret who is the first person besides his parents to be interested in TOAST which stand for the Theory of All Small Things. Florian uses this technique like a game to solve little mysteries, but when there are paintings stolen from the National Gallery, he and Margaret use TOAST to find clues to help the FBI solve the case. Even though the FBI tries to hide his involvement, it isn't long before Florian is in danger from the art thieves.

Framed! is the first book in the Framed! series and is full of mystery and fun. Florian is a modern day Encyclopedia Brown to Margaret's Sally Kimball. The mystery of the missing paintings seems realistic, especially for a middle grade audience. The clues are easy to follow, but also challenging enough to make the story entertaining. The witty banter, short sentence structures, and fast paced action all make this book a very quick enjoyable read. Overall, Framed! is an extremely captivating mystery and a promising start to this series. 4 1/2 stars. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 4-7

Plot Summary: Florian is so observant that he created a game called Toast where he can make very good guesses about someone's life just by looking at them quickly. He's surprised when this game becomes a way to have made one of his first real friends. He always moved a lot because of his parents job, but his new neighbor Margaret seems fascinated by Toast. They go to the art museum to practice on random strangers. One stranger in particular shows up again a few weeks later. When art is stolen from the museum, they think they know who took it. Will anyone believe kids? Thankfully, his dad convinces people to listen to him in between the madness of the investigation. Florian's quick observations impress the FBI, and now they want to hire him to solve more difficult cases. Will his parents let him? Will it be safe? Will he be able to actually solve the cases?

Setting: Washinton DC

Characters:
Florian Bates -
Margaret - outgoing, bold, adventurous, adopted, looking for information about her birth parents
Dad - head of security for art museums
Agent Rivers - the agent that Florian impressed, in charge of Florian's FBI work, takes care of Florian like a father would

Recurring Themes: friendship, art, danger, FBI, action/adventure

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: I read this book in one night. It was well written with plenty of action and character development.

Genre: mystery

Pacing: fast
Characters: all well developed and believable
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

children's middlegrade mystery/suspense
this was a very clever, suspenseful, thrilling ride of a read starring 12 y.o. 7th grader Florian and his new best friend and partner Margaret (who is Black and intent on uncovering the mystery of her birth parents) during the summer before he starts at his new school in Washington, D.C.. I tore through this in one day and would highly recommend for kids who love mysteries and/or good adventure stories. ( )