Orca, 2012. 121 pgs. Mystery (sort of)
The Orca Currents series continues to impress with its high interest/accessible vocabulary books, especially for boys. In this story, Angus finds himself standing next to the goddess-like Ella Eckles after a stink-bomb explosion forces the evacuation of their middle school. Not normally a lucky guy, Angus sees a chance to make his move when Ella shows him her sketchbook of finely drawn portraits and he makes up a story about wanting to be a mentalist, and being something of an expert on facial expressions himself. So when Ella's sketchbook is stolen from the art room, she asks Angus to see if he can figure out who did it. Angus and his best friend Shahid are quickly on the case though Shahid thinks Angus should just confess that he lied so the two of them can get back to building their remote-controlled robot, Gordon. Angus, wishing to win Ella's affection, presses on, shadowing the art teacher and chasing down the Stink-Bomb Perpetrator in turn. A somewhat surprising ending wraps everything up nicely in this funny easy-reading adventure.
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