I turned the pale pink envelope over, then I looked quickly around to check that people weren’t killing themselves laughing, that it wasn’t a big joke. No one was even looking in my direction. I gazed at the envelope. It wasn’t addressed to me or anyone else.
Should I open it or not?
When Laura finds a love note in her bag, she doesn’t know what to do. It is signed from a secret admirer, but she can’t even begin to guess who that might be. Laura’s mother is a Private Investigator, so Laura hopes she will help her figure out who it is from. But soon, Laura is on the trail herself and as more love letters appear in her classmates’ bags, she tries desperately to solve the mystery.
Love Notes is a fun mystery story suitable for ten to twelve year old readers. As Laura works to solve the case, she also deals with the complexities of playground politics, mixing with different groups of students – including the Populars (the ‘in’ girls), the Fringes (those who want to be ‘in’) and an absentee best friend who wants to keep Laura to herself. At the end of the story, several pages of tips for aspiring PIs are included, with a comforting level of caution about spying on strangers.
The hot pink cover will be attractive to its target audience, upper primary aged girls.
Love Notes, by Margaret Clark
Random House, 2007
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