Death by Whoopee Cushion

Gr 5-7–Twelve-year-old science-obsessed Manya Brown wants nothing more than to attend an extracurricular science course with her best friend and neighbor, Isaac, and her wish is granted when her joke shop-owning parents sign her up for the course. She believes that this is the first step to a long career in science. However, her world is turned upside down when her parents are arrested and subsequently jailed for the death of the school janitor when an item from their shop explodes right before a school assembly where they are scheduled to present. ­Convinced of their innocence, Manya sets out on a quest to find the culprit. In her pursuit of truth and justice, she learns that there is more to her parents’ educational and work history than she previously knew. The adept narrator, ­Nissae Isen, employs a different voice for each character, allowing listeners to distinguish one from another and making the text easy to follow. ­