Death by Whoopee Cushion

Gr 5 Up–Manya is perpetually embarrassed by her parents who run the Pranks-a-Million joke shop. She simply wants to be a scientist and go to an after-school class at the science museum with her “nerd herd” best friend Isaac, and ignore all the fake barf and dog poo that her parents push on her. But when her parents come to demonstrate their latest prank creation at her school, an explosion rocks the building and kills the new janitor. Before the incident is written off as an accident, Manya’s parents are arrested for the janitor’s murder! Was it all a prank gone wrong, or are Manya’s parents being framed? The book opens with the plight of a kid with joke-shop parents and evolves into a cliff-hanger that hooks readers and keeps them engaged with short chapters and lots of gross-out prank shop item descriptions. Manya is a drily funny and honest tween with a loyal best friend, and both have relatable friendship and family woes. The action ramps up as Manya tries to solve the case and save her parents, but everything ends on a goofy note. The science woven into the plot is an interesting means of teaching some basic concepts, such as confirmation bias and chemical reactions, with a murder mystery/joke shop backdrop.