Walls within Walls

Walls within Walls

by Maureen Sherry
HarperCollins, 2010. 349 pgs. Fiction

When Mr. Smithfork hits the bigtime with his video game, the family moves from their cozy Brooklyn neighborhood to a high-rise in Manhattan. The kids hate it. But things look up when they are horsing around and knock the heater grille out of the wall--behind the grille is a painting of a giant eyeball. Further investigation leads to coded clues and a breakneck chase around the landmarks of New York City in search of a lost inheritance. Lucky for the kids the elderly lady who should have received the treasure lives in the apartment beneath theirs and is a helpful adult to accompany them so their parents don't find out what they are up to. Lucky for Patrick, the youngest, who is usually left out of his older brother and sister's schemes, he is the only one who can fit between the false wall of their apartment and the real wall where the clues are hidden. Lucky for kids who like the 39 Clues series or Blue Balliet's puzzle books, Walls within Walls has just a tiny bit of suspense but lots of action and brain-benders as the three Smithfork children try to solve a long-ago mystery for a new-found friend.