The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit by Octavia Spencer (review)

Twelve-year-old Randi Rhodes is just hitting her stride as Glenn Street, vigilante detective and protector of her Brooklyn neighborhood, bringer of justice to plant-stealing dogs and pigeon-nappers everywhere, when Randi’s dad decides to up and move the family to Deer Creek, a sleepy little town in the mountains. Certain that she’ll be bored to tears by summer’s end, Randi is therefore thrilled when the town’s time capsule goes missing her first week there, giving her the perfect opportunity to use that new fingerprint kit she ordered and maybe show off some of her Tae Kwon Do moves as she takes down the offending thugs. A host of quirky supporting characters (the town’s pudgy but productive town sheriff is particularly delightful) provide warmth in this cozy little mystery while Randi herself is eminently likable, an appealing mixture of bravado and vulnerability as she tries to crack the case, negotiate her relationship with her dad, and come to terms with her mother’s recent death. Academy Award–winner-turned-author Spencer lays out an inviting mystery perfectly suited for younger readers: Randi occasionally recounts clues as the mystery gets more complex, giving readers an opportunity to put the pieces together themselves and guess the culprit. If the ending goes a bit over the top with Randi and her two new pals using their martial arts to take down eight grown men, well, that just adds to the general feel of kid-empowered wish fulfillment here, and this will likely garner enough fans to follow Randi on to her next case.