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The Tiara on the Terrace

(Young and Yang #2)

Kristen Kittscher (Goodreads Author)

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 204 ratings · 58 reviews

Sophie Young and Grace Yang have been taking it easy ever since they solved the crime of the century...well, at least the biggest crime Luna Vista has ever seen. But things are getting exciting again now that everyone is gearing up for the 125th annual Winter Sun Festival—a town tradition that involves floats, a parade, and a “royal” court made up of local high school girl ...more

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ebook, 388 pages

Published January 5th 2016 by HarperCollins

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Nov 21, 2019 Abigail rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone Who Read & Enjoyed 'The Wig in the Window'

Shelves: childrens-mystery, childrens-fiction, cross-cultural-friendship, asian-american-children

Best friends and middle-grade crime-fighting duo Sophie Young and Grace Yang return in this second adventure, following up on their debut in The Wig in the Window . This time the young sleuths become involved in a murder-mystery when the president of The Winter Sun Festival - an important annual event in their California town - is found dead. Although the police seem to be treating it as an accident, Young and Yang know better, and together with their good friend (and budding mechanical geniu ...more

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Sep 04, 2015 Kellee Moye rated it it was amazing

Shelves: realistic-fiction, humor, middle-grade, unleashing-readers, mystery, death-or-dying, my-favorite-reads-in-2015

Review at: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=8269

Kristen Kittscher has done it again.
I love Young, Yang, and Bottoms because they are extraordinary yet normal girls.
I love the story because it is a perfect middle grade mystery--with just enough suspense and bad guys.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I am in awe of Kristen Kittscher’s ability to craft such a complicated mystery! There are so many twists and turns throughout that I am sure the plotting of the book was so intensive! I really appreciate Yo ...more

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Aug 05, 2015 McCormick Templeman rated it it was amazing

Tiara on the Terrace is an awesome middle grade mystery about friendship, changing perspectives of adult power, and the difficulties of navigating the shift from childhood to adolescence all set within the confines of a ridiculously fun mystery. I got to read an early version, and fell in love with it. We’re back with Sophie, Grace, and Trista, for whom life has returned to normal since their spy-filled, mystery-solving exploits of The Wig in the Window. This time the girls decide to infiltrate ...more

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Jun 26, 2015 Jen Malone rated it it was amazing

We were lucky enough to get an advance copy of this book and, after being such big fans of WIG IN THE WINDOW, my three children literally fought over who got to read it first (Sigh. I'm such a nice mom for giving them first dibs- and for refereeing the fight). They all zoomed through it and declared it perfect and I have to agree. We snickered over how the kid characters were so much smarter than the adults and the humor hit every time. Plus, it has a fictional version of the Rose Parade and wha ...more

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Sep 16, 2015 Ms. Yingling rated it liked it

Shelves: wndb

ARC from Young Adult Books Central

Sophie and Grace are minor celebrities in their California town of Luna Vista after they solved the crime of The Wig in the Window. This time, one of the organizers of the Sun Festival is found dead, the most likely cause being a blow to the head by a s'mores float. The girls feel that the police decide much too quickly that the death was a mere accident; they know better. When another organizer passes out, they feel that foul play must be the order of the day a ARC from Young Adult Books Central

Sophie and Grace are minor celebrities in their California town of Luna Vista after they solved the crime of The Wig in the Window. This time, one of the organizers of the Sun Festival is found dead, the most likely cause being a blow to the head by a s'mores float. The girls feel that the police decide much too quickly that the death was a mere accident; they know better. When another organizer passes out, they feel that foul play must be the order of the day and start their investigation.The two, along with their friend Trista, manage to get picked as Sun Festival pages, and get to spend several days living in the former Ridley Root Beer mansion under the tutelage of Lauren Sparrow, who teachers them home to wave, walk, and eat meatball heroes without licking their fingers or messing up their lipstick. At first, they suspect the parade organizer, the quirky, Pooh Bear loving Barb Lund. Lund has sent angry e mails around and is known for her misplaced devotion to the event. All signs seem to point to her, and the girls feel they are closing in... until they realize that the real murderer is closer at hand that they could have suspected.

Fans of Beil's Red Blazer Girls or Runholdt's Lucas and Kari mysteries will find this "cozy" mystery series for middle grade readers vastly amusing. Not only is there actual murder (something for which many readers ask and few authors write), but there is girl drama, sleepovers and a bit of romance. Sophie, Grace and Trista find themselves sharing close quarters with the popular girls who usually give them a hard time, but come to find that most people are easier to deal with once you know them.

The details of a small town festival are lots of fun, and anyone who has ever worked on a parade float will appreciate all of the work that goes into the preparations for one. It seemed a bit unlikely that the pages and the court would have been moved into a mansion for the week, but since middle grade heroes need a parent-free environment in order to save the day, this was a vastly better alternative than killing their parents.

These books remind me vaguely of Lillian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who books, and are a perfect choice for the younger reader whose parents' shelves are filled with that series, Diana Mott Davidson's cooking mysteries or the works of Susan Wittig Albert.

To be perfect for middle grade readers, however, this could have been half the length. At almost 400 pages, this will be avoided by many of my readers. ...more

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Nov 11, 2015 K.L. Hallam rated it it was amazing

I received an ARC for an honest review.

The second book to The Wig in the Window and I loved this middle-grade adventure just as much, if not more because the main characters feel even more familiar to me. Sophie Young and Grace Yang, the tween super sleuths, are at it again and they’ve brought another friend, Trista, into their triumvirate alliance.

A fun whodunit that kept me guessing the entire way through, and I was completely surprised by the culprit. It’s the biggest crime to hit the girl I received an ARC for an honest review.

The second book to The Wig in the Window and I loved this middle-grade adventure just as much, if not more because the main characters feel even more familiar to me. Sophie Young and Grace Yang, the tween super sleuths, are at it again and they’ve brought another friend, Trista, into their triumvirate alliance.

A fun whodunit that kept me guessing the entire way through, and I was completely surprised by the culprit. It’s the biggest crime to hit the girls’ hometown Luna Vista since the last large crime the girls solved, turned them into household names.

And now with the backdrop of the Winter Sun Festival, a festival similar to the Rose Bowl, Sophie and her BFF Grace have quite the caper ahead when the president in charge of the Festival is killed by a freak accident on the first day of preparations. But the girls don’t buy it after they learn that a mechanical marshmallow whipped the Festival president, Mr. Steptoe, out of his senses and left him dead, was an accident. The police assume it was a malfunctioning mechanical marshmallow. The have to act fast before the next president of the Festival gets knocked down and taken out.

It’s too suspicious, and there are so many suspects. The girls try and narrow it down, but first they have to go undercover as court pages. Sophie doesn’t want to. She doesn’t want to have to spend three days alone with High School girls on the Royal Court, covering them with fake tans, sorting their clothes, and doing their bidding. It’s only when Grace has done a sufficient job convincing her, she’s on the team, and they make it in. All three girls make the cut. They spend the next three days, away from their parents, and get busy snooping, and deducing, and creating a little mischief of their own.

But something amazing happens. The seventh-grade girls grow closer with the high school girls, even after Sophie lets out an embarrassing secret that belonged to Grace when she wasn’t around to tell it herself. Things come together–after a few obstacles to a very satisfying end. Such a great middle-grade read. I could probably read about these sleuths in volumes.
...more

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Jan 15, 2016 Kimberly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 52-books-in-52-weeks-2016

The Tiara on the Terrace brings back loveable Sophie and Grace, our two sleuths who last made their appearance in The Wig In The Window. After solving that crime, they are somewhat happy to get back to normal. Except they see danger and mystery around every turn! When they enlist to help with the floats at the famous parade in their town, a murder is the last thing they expect! But the perfect thing to back to spying!

This charming middle grade mystery book has it all. There are fun characters fi ...more

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Jul 12, 2015 Ella rated it it was amazing

My 2016 Book Challenge: A Sequel To Your Favorite Book

I am ridiculously excited for this book. I spent like 3 months checking for it on Goodreads, and then I forgot, and then, poof, it's there, cover and all!

MY ACTUAL REVIEW:
The Wig in the Window is one of my favorite books, so I was SO excited for this to come out! I requested it at my library as soon as it was an option, and it finally came available yesterday. In my review of the first book, I mentioned how Sophie and Grace remind me of my co ...more

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Feb 04, 2016 Kate rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, middle-grade

Sophie and Grace are back in this sequel to The Wig in the Window! This time around, they're working at a knockoff Tournament of Roses parade when the well-liked festival president turns up dead - on one of the floats! With so many of the townspeople ripe with motive, how will they find out whodunit this time? Could it be the festival vice-president, longing for his chance to be in the spotlight? Or the mother of the girl who didn't get nominated for Festival Queen? Whoever it is, Sophie and Gra ...more

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Jan 03, 2016 Mark Baker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-grade, mystery, 2016

Like most teens in Luna Vista, Sophie Young and Grace Yang are working on the floats for the upcoming Winter Sun Festival. This is the 125th anniversary of the parade, and the town wants to make an especially good impression. Sadly, the work is interrupted one day when the festival president is found dead on one of the floats. Certain it wasn’t the accident the police think it is, Sophie and Grace begin to investigate. But when their pool of suspects could also be the next victim, can they solve ...more

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Jan 26, 2016 ༺Kiki༻ rated it liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, disease-disorder, contemporary, animals, friendship-family, united-states, mystery, humour

If you liked this book, you might also enjoy:

✱ Greenglass House
✱ Last in a Long Line of Rebels
✱ Goodbye Stranger
✱ Felony Bay series
✱ Tupelo Landing series ...more

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Feb 07, 2016 Wendy MacKnight rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-reads

Sophie and Grace are back! This time, they're trying to solve the mystery of who's killed the beloved organizer of the annual Winter Sun Festival and its epic parade. Add in lots of suspects, some tension between our heroines, who don't seem to be on the same page anymore, and you have a great story. No surprise Kittscher does an amazing job on the details - she's from Pasadena after all - but even more importantly, she really gets into the heads of her characters, showing the inner lives of mid ...more

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Feb 12, 2016 Jennifer Alvarez rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A perfect tween mystery with heart! I loved this book and, even as an adult, I related to the young characters. The mystery is smartly told and will keep you guessing. The friendships and characters feel real. I went through some of the same tensions with my friends when I was that age. This book addresses tween stress while managing to remain encouraging and positive. The book is also exciting! Sophie, Grace, and Trista face some real dangers as they try to catch the killer.

Readers will fall i ...more

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Nov 17, 2015 Michelle Simpson rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grades, mystery

Sophie and Grace are back, and wouldn't you know they'd run into another mystery! Some strange and scary things are going on as they prepare for their community's Winter Sun Festival, and they are determined to work with their friend Trista and get to the bottom of it!

The story provides an interesting mystery and moves quickly with lots of theories and action along the way. The characters are fantastic and make it a lot of fun for readers. ...more

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Apr 09, 2016 Beth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, middle-grade, own, mystery, 2016-novel-length-reads

Even better than The Wig in the Window. And as much as I love Young and Yang as protagonists, I especially love all the quirky secondary characters, particularly the exaggerated way in which the audiobook narrator voices these characters. Overall a highly entertaining middle grade mystery. I would love to see Young and Yang as the stars of their own TV series someday. :)

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May 12, 2015 Michele Knott rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2015, mystery

Love this second mystery by Kristen Kittscher, featuring Young and Yang. Mystery, suspense, action and most of all, fun.
Great second novel for Kittscher.

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Oct 22, 2017 Jennie Koh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Sophie Young and Grace Yang have been taking it easy ever since they solved the biggest crime Luna Vista had ever seen. But things might get interesting again now that everyone is gearing up for the 125th annual Winter Sun Festival—a town tradition that involves floats, a parade, and a Royal Court made up of local high school girls.

When Festival president Jim Steptoe turns up dead on the first day of parade preparations, the police blame a malfunctioning giant s'more feature on the campfire-them ...more

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Mar 04, 2019 Colette Murphy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I don't recall reading much "middle grade" in my life, even when I was in the right age group. The classics, I suppose, like Roald Dahl, and The Baby-sitter's Club & Goosebumps series, but I definitely haven't ventures into it recently. After seeing Kristen Kittscher present on a panel at a Writing Conference, though, I decided to venture into the genre in order to read this book of hers.

I adored it! Young & Yang (& Bottoms) are interesting, compelling tween characters. I loved trying to solve ...more

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Oct 11, 2017 Holli rated it it was ok · review of another edition

It pains me to DNF this book. I waited years for this book. I enjoyed the first one. I tried 3 different times to read this but finally I can not get past page 160. I had a hard time keeping track of the faces for all the characters or what had happened to them. Who was it who was murdered again? What relationship did this person have with another? Also I was expecting cooky fun times. Eh...not so much. No actual detecting took place until around page 150. Instead I got constant inner monologues ...more

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Mar 07, 2018 emyrose8 rated it really liked it

I almost gave up on this book... at the beginning, the story smacked of two middle school friends breaking up (one ditching the other for the popular crowd) and I just didn’t want to read about that. Thankfully I stuck with the book and I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t happen. The mystery was a good one with lots of suspects, motives, and clues that only came together at the end. All in all, a solid middle grade mystery.

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Dec 31, 2019 Kristina Marie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, series-done, 2019

2.5. I liked the mystery in this one better than in the first, but I am still not sure who the author’s audience is. Some scenes are a bit much. Other than that, I liked seeing more Trista.

Amanda Philipson did a good job narrating again.

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Mar 05, 2020 Rose Eilish rated it liked it · review of another edition

This one wasn't as good as the original, I guess because it the plot didn't take place is something everyone can relate to. The first book's plot took place at a school, but this one was a parade maker place. It isn't a bad book at all though. ...more

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Jan 10, 2018 Tommy Phillips rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Charming story

A fun and exciting story with a surprise outcome that made even myself a bit shocked. Overall, a good read and I highly recommend it.

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Dec 12, 2020 aem rated it liked it · review of another edition

Some laugh out loud moments with Young and Yang and Trista involved in a mystery

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May 14, 2016 NicoleLynn (PopCrunchBoom) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This review previously appeared on my blog, PopCrunchBoom Books

The Tiara on the Terrace by Kristen Kittscher follows Sophie Young and Grace Yang–two best friends who’ve just recently finished solving Luna Vista’s biggest crime. Now the two are trying to enjoy the upcoming Winter Sun Festival activities, that is until they come across another crime mystery! Young and Yang team up again to try and solve the latest mystery to hit Luna Vista–the murder of Festival president Jim Steptoe. In order to This review previously appeared on my blog, PopCrunchBoom Books

The Tiara on the Terrace by Kristen Kittscher follows Sophie Young and Grace Yang–two best friends who’ve just recently finished solving Luna Vista’s biggest crime. Now the two are trying to enjoy the upcoming Winter Sun Festival activities, that is until they come across another crime mystery! Young and Yang team up again to try and solve the latest mystery to hit Luna Vista–the murder of Festival president Jim Steptoe. In order to do so, the two girls join the Royal Court as royal pages. Amidst fashion emergencies, float decoration and figuring out how to walk in high heels, Young and Yang must also try to find the killer!

Not having read the first book in this series, I was unsure if I’d be missing any details. However, Kittscher does a great job of adding in some summarization of the first book. I quickly picked up on who most of the characters were and was introduced to new players as well. (I’ll definitely be going back to read the first book though!). So, it’s not necessary to read the books in order to understand and enjoy this mystery.

Young and Yang are great main characters! The story is told from Sophie’s point of view, but readers get to see a lot of Grace as well. It was great seeing the characters develop together. Like all friendships, their relationship hits some snags along the way, but the two of them ban together (with the help of some friends) to solve the mystery. I really enjoyed Kittscher’s focus on friendship. Coming from reading mainly YA, friendship isn’t always a focus in a lot of the books I’ve read. It seems Middle Grade tends to focus more on friendship–which I appreciate.

Kittscher has definitely created well developed characters that readers will enjoy and connect with. I found a lot of the instances that Sophie and Grace went through to be similar things I went through as a young teenager/tween. Sophie has her first crush; Grace develops new interests like fashion which draws the eyes of the “popular” crowd. Trista, Sophie & Grace’s friend and new mystery-solving partner, is into mechanics and engineering. All three girls are growing and struggling through the first years of adolesence while also retaining their childhood innocence/nature. I felt that Kittscher did a great job of capturing this age–twelve/thirteen years old. She also did a great job of making the characters unique with their own clear voice.

The mystery part of the book was also well done. While I had some inclinations on who it was, it did take me some time to actually figure it out. There were multiple possibilities, but I’m happy I figured it out before the girls did 🙂 All that Criminal Minds, NCIS/CIS and Law & Order has done me well over the years haha. But seriously, the mystery aspect of the novel was suspenseful and entertaining. It added a lot to the pacing of the novel. I felt like I read through this one very quick. If you like faster paced novels with mystery then I’d definitely recommend this title.

Overall, I found this book a quick and delightful read. I’m slowly reading more mystery and was glad that I picked this one up. I’ve been recommending the series to some of the customers coming into the shop, so I’d definitely recommend this to anyone interested in mystery or even contemporary. I think readers around 10+ would really like this book. I mean I’m in my 20’s and I really liked this book haha. So yup, if you’re looking for an easy read with a great young girl POV as well as a strong female POV with some mystery and suspense thrown in, then definitely pick this one up! I’m going to be reading the first one and anticipating any future ones! ...more

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Sep 17, 2015 Katie Fitzgerald rated it really liked it

Shelves: level-middle-grade, 2015, genre-mystery, audience-children

The town of Luna Vista is hoping for a peaceful return to normalcy after two twelve-year-old detectives, Grace Yang and Sophie Young, discovered a fugitive working at the local middle school. Unfortunately, as preparations get underway for the annual Winter Sun Festival, another crime is uncovered - this time, it’s the murder of festival president Jim Steptoe, whose body is found on a partially finished parade float. Though Grace has expressed her desire to stop solving crime, Sophie, along with The town of Luna Vista is hoping for a peaceful return to normalcy after two twelve-year-old detectives, Grace Yang and Sophie Young, discovered a fugitive working at the local middle school. Unfortunately, as preparations get underway for the annual Winter Sun Festival, another crime is uncovered - this time, it’s the murder of festival president Jim Steptoe, whose body is found on a partially finished parade float. Though Grace has expressed her desire to stop solving crime, Sophie, along with the girls’ friend, Trista Bottoms, convinces her to take on just one more case. As they follow clues and identify suspects, the girls find themselves signing up to serve as festival pages alongside some of the mean girls who have tormented them in the past. While they do their best to keep up their official page duties, and investigate evidence at every available moment, the girls must also take care not to fall into any of the traps laid out for them by the murderer.

A worthy sequel to a great story, The Tiara on the Terrace is sure to satisfy those readers who wish for more middle grade murder mysteries. Just like the first book, The Wig in the Window, Young and Yang’s second adventure is marked by a memorable setting populated by interesting and quirky people. The Winter Sun Festival, with its ceremonies, parties, parade floats, and traditions is the perfect backdrop for a mystery, as well as just an interesting, uncommon setting for a middle grade novel. The suspects are well-developed, with lots of great annoying habits and qualities that make the reader extra suspicious of their motives. The best one is Barb Lund, whose use of outdated slang and obsession with Winnie-the-Pooh make her seem so obnoxiously real. Not since Dolores Umbridge has it been so much fun to hate a character. Also wonderful is Trista Bottoms, who is the most engaging supporting character of the entire story. Her cargo vest, loud, booming voice, and deep knowledge of science and engineering give her a unique personality that is almost deserving of its own book.

The only drawback to this story is the lack of resolution to the tension in Grace and Sophie’s friendship. The foundation is laid for a major disagreement: Grace no longer wants to spy, and Sophie accidentally reveals one of Grace’s innermost secrets to a room full of catty girls. Grace forgives Sophie way too easily for her transgression, while the issue of Grace feeling like she is beyond crime solving is abandoned once the mystery takes off. It would have been more satisfying if the friendship storyline had received the same careful treatment as the mystery itself.

Make sure to read The Wig in the Window before The Tiara on the Terrace, as the second book includes spoilers for the first. Readers who enjoy Young and Yang might also want to read Murder is Bad Manners, the first title in a series about another team of girl detectives, Wells and Wong. ...more

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Oct 19, 2015 thuy rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-own, mystery, for-review, middle-grade, 52-books-in-52-weeks-2016

The Tiara on the Terrace is a delightful follow up to the charming middle grade mystery, The Wig in the Window. Tiara follows the exploits of best friends Sophie Young and Grace Young who enjoy spy games and recently became town heroes when they captured a killer in their idyllic hometown of Luna Vista. Young and Yang are content to stay away from too much excitement for a while when a mystery falls right into their laps. The president of the Winter Sun Festival, the biggest and most revered ann The Tiara on the Terrace is a delightful follow up to the charming middle grade mystery, The Wig in the Window. Tiara follows the exploits of best friends Sophie Young and Grace Young who enjoy spy games and recently became town heroes when they captured a killer in their idyllic hometown of Luna Vista. Young and Yang are content to stay away from too much excitement for a while when a mystery falls right into their laps. The president of the Winter Sun Festival, the biggest and most revered annual event in Luna Vista, is found dead one morning in the float barn from an apparent accidental animatronic marshmallow malfunction. While everyone else accepts the tragedy as a freak accident, Young and Yang aren't so sure, as the clues don't quite add up. In order to solve the mystery, the two must embark on possibly their must difficult mission yet - infiltrate the Winter Sun royal court and catch the killer before he strikes again!

Let me start this off by staying that I know the author of this book. We became friendly a few years ago when The Wig in the Window was first released. I became a fan after reading Wig and was excited to hear that Young and Yang's adventures would continue in another book. Well. it took almost three years for the sequel to come out, but it was worth the wait. Now I don't normally read a lot of middle grade, but Young and Yang's unique bond and strong friendship are what drew me to the series. Kittscher's portrayal of adolescent friendship is spot on and I could relate to Sophie's feelings of insecurity and fear. In Tiara, she has to go outside of her comfort zone to join the royal court of the Winter Sun Festival. Sophie doesn't feel like she fits into this group whose interests are so different than hers and feels that Grace is pulling away from her.

Besides the amazing friendship, there's also a mystery to solve! As with Wig, the mystery in Tiara is full of twists and turns, keeping you in the dark about who the killer is until the very end. While I have never been to the Rose Parade (on which the Winter Sun Festival is loosely based), I enjoyed the parade setting and learning all about the ins and ours of such a large and event. I enjoyed the creative float themes and all of the pageant politics. I loved how real the friendship between Grace and Sophie felt, with its ups and downs. The book is also filled with fantastic supporting characters, each with distinct personalities. Trista Bottoms was a personal favorite.

If you like a good mystery filled with intrigue and drama, laced with wit, charm and a lot of heart, then The Tiara on the Terrace is for you. This is a book that readers of all ages can enjoy and I hope to see more of Grace, Sophie and Trista in the future.

*I received a copy of this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my review or opinion of the book. ...more

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Dec 02, 2016 Rebecca rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, drama, children, mystery

Sophie and her best friend Grace, along with engineering expert Trista, have already solved one major (murder?) mystery in Luna Vista, and now they have another on their hands. The town is going nuts prepping for their Winter Sun Festival, with its flower-covered floats in the big parade, and the Royal Court of princesses and pages. Sophie and Grace are decorating floats when the head of the festival is discovered dead, by means of an animatronic s'more on the Girl Scout float. To solve the murd Sophie and her best friend Grace, along with engineering expert Trista, have already solved one major (murder?) mystery in Luna Vista, and now they have another on their hands. The town is going nuts prepping for their Winter Sun Festival, with its flower-covered floats in the big parade, and the Royal Court of princesses and pages. Sophie and Grace are decorating floats when the head of the festival is discovered dead, by means of an animatronic s'more on the Girl Scout float. To solve the murder, Grace convinces a majorly reluctant Sophie that they have to try to get spots as pages, so they can be on the spot in the Ridley Mansion near the Float Barn. Sophie has no interest in most things girly, nor does Trista, but Grace convinces them and to Sophie's amazement, they are actually chosen. From there, they have to conduct their sleuthing in between putting together emergency makeup packets, getting herbal tea for the queen and her princesses, and going to photo shoots. Can they solve the mystery before someone else gets killed? How about before one of THEM gets killed?

I did and didn't like this one. I thought it was too long, for one thing, and I had a hard time getting into it--it was one I had no trouble putting down and listening to something else for a while. Also, the narrator really killed it for me. Her voices were terrible, I'm sorry to say. Sophie and Grace were fine, but most everyone else just sounded like bad SNL impressions. The "popular" girls in particular all sounded like the worst possible impression you could do of a 1980s Valley Girl (WTH?), so it was impossible either to like them or take them seriously. The one character with a vaguely Scandinavian last name sounded like the Swedish Chef transplanted to Fargo. Again, WTH? What I did like was the wonderful world-building with all the setting details. A parade is a great setting because it's so full of colorful details, and the author really paints a vivid picture of everything. I thought the mystery was fine, too--though for a while she did fake me out that it was going to be the obvious person, whom I never suspected. It turned out to be the one I suspected right away, though, which I'm not sure is any better. But I've read a ton of mysteries! And I'll admit, I fast forwarded through the spots of massive humiliation and too much suspense, but that's just me. I think kids will probably like it, even if I was leery about the uber-non-girly Trista suddenly liking how she looked in a pretty dress. News flash: it's okay not to like wearing pretty dresses! It's also okay to like wearing them, of course, but it would be nice to have characters who really don't and who aren't converted into something more socially acceptable by discovering a sudden liking for taffeta. ...more

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Jan 04, 2016 Lauren rated it it was ok · review of another edition

As someone who lives near the Tournament of Roses (and its famous Rose Parade), I was excited to see a book set during a fictional version of the event (doubly so once I realized some of our local bookstores were carrying the book ahead of its official publication date).

And, well, the idea of a body being discovered on a float tickled me. I’ve seen enough floats under construction to appreciate both the weirdness and awesomeness of staging a murder in this way. And Young and Yang on the case? So As someone who lives near the Tournament of Roses (and its famous Rose Parade), I was excited to see a book set during a fictional version of the event (doubly so once I realized some of our local bookstores were carrying the book ahead of its official publication date).

And, well, the idea of a body being discovered on a float tickled me. I’ve seen enough floats under construction to appreciate both the weirdness and awesomeness of staging a murder in this way. And Young and Yang on the case? Sounds fun.

Tiara on the Terrace has all of the pieces necessary to build an engaging, fun mystery. But the story as written may have trouble holding a lot of younger readers’ interest. For one, Tiara on the Terrace is way too long – conservatively, I’d say the novel could lose about 80 pages and be the better for it. The beginning drags, opting for the scenic route when a more direct one would have made more sense for the plot, to say nothing of getting readers to the actual investigation that much sooner.

What I most liked about The Wig in the Window was how engaging I found Sophie and Grace. Unfortunately, they seem little more than placeholders in Tiara on the Terrace, as if, having established their characters in the first book, no more character development is needed. Without their dazzling personalities, the book loses much of the smart, sassy attitude that was one of the strengths of the first book. Unfortunately, Tiara on the Terrace leans even more on one of the weaker parts of the first book: the ‘adults are stupid because otherwise there’s not a story’ trope.

I do wish that Ms. Kittscher had relied more on the Tournament of Roses and its traditions and timetable. I know enough of the Rose Parade to know that some of its details would have helped smooth some of Tiara on the Terrace’s rough edges (starting with the too-long, somewhat convoluted beginning).

Honestly, Tiara on the Terrace – even more than Wig in the Window – convinced me that this is a murder mystery series that, with some tweaks, would work better for adults. Sophie and Grace are more Flavia de Luce than Encyclopedia Brown. Frankly, the murder and resolution felt like they had to be diluted to work for a children's audience - and at the expense of the plot. Plus, I can’t shake the feeling that this series wouldn’t have appealed to me as a child, and appealing to children should be the one of the primary goals of any middle-grade novel. Quasi-recommended. ...more

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Jan 24, 2016 Penny McGill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: for-older-kids

Simply splendid. Second book in the series (I'll get back to the first sometime - maybe I'll save it for a day when I need to be cheered and want to visit this world again) but it's easy peasy to get to know these 3 girls very quickly here. They are known as local heroes from saving the day in their last book but this one finds them busily at work in the 'parade barn' as they happen to live in a town that is based on Pasadena, the home of the very fabulous Rose Bowl Parade, but this town has a d Simply splendid. Second book in the series (I'll get back to the first sometime - maybe I'll save it for a day when I need to be cheered and want to visit this world again) but it's easy peasy to get to know these 3 girls very quickly here. They are known as local heroes from saving the day in their last book but this one finds them busily at work in the 'parade barn' as they happen to live in a town that is based on Pasadena, the home of the very fabulous Rose Bowl Parade, but this town has a different name and their parade is named something completely different but it is just as exciting.

It's just like a dream come true to be steeped in all of those fun parade-related details as the three girls sort out the drama and details of the creation of the floats, the choosing of the parade princess & her court, the bureaucracy of who gets to run the whole organization (down to who cleans up the poop on the parade route when the horses walk on by) and sadly... people die & they have to find out who the killer might possibly be. There is a soupcon of romance involved with one young man and some older teens who verge into mean girl territory but it never becomes too horrifying. The overall tone of the book stays perfectly in the range of grades 5-7. It's just grand. The murder details are muted but the danger level is high enough to keep your interest throughout.

Three friends - one is home schooled - but of diverse interests and skills who work together nicely with enough tension and stress to make the book a constant thrill. Through a very clever twist the book has a little extra boost of energy that might have put me over the edge in grade seven - the girls have to stay overnight for 3 days as they become part of the parade princess' court - and it makes for some exciting adventures as they continue to investigate the murder. I know my own kids would laugh at the idea of that being scary - but it makes the book tonnes of fun to read. The last 70 pages of the book were absolutely impossible to put down & there was even a nice red herring suspect and I think the 3 girls are a delight. I am a fan of giving mysteries to all kids who come into the library but with the addition of the wacky parade element in this story, the sweetness of these 3 girls themselves this one is an absolute winner. ...more

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About Kristen Kittscher

Kristen Kittscher

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Kristen Kittscher is the 2014 James Thurber House Children's Writer-in-Residence and debut author of THE WIG IN THE WINDOW (Harper Children's 2013) and THE TIARA ON THE TERRACE (Harper Children's, 1/5/2016). Officially a native of Pittsburgh, Kristen grew up in over thirteen cities -- including San Francisco, Reno, London, and Dallas. She graduated from Brown University with a degree in Comparativ ...more