Clara Days and the secret of the surly professor: A fun mystery novel for young
K M Bailey
language
(, Nov. 19, 2014)
Clara Days' story begins with a bang, quite literally, when a ball flies straight into her face, thrown by the nastiest girl in school, the horrible Shantilda Squalimore. Who could have imagined that this simple act of vindictiveness could set off a chain of events that would lead Clara and her friends to uncover the apparently evil plot of a sinister, brooding, odd, and extremely surly professor? If only that ball hadn’t landed in Clara’s face, then the teacher wouldn’t have called out a detention for the nasty Miss Squalimore. She in turn sought revenge, that caused Clara’s wet shoes, that caused her to wear ill-fitting boots, that caused a delay, that caused her to see an amazing sight, that caused her curiosity, that motivated her to join the science cadets, that ultimately led to her shocking discovery about the surly professor. Then life and death decisions needed to be made. You get the idea. Once a pebble is thrown into the water, there’s no stopping the ripple effect, and where it will take you. And when you’re in deep water, there’s no getting out without a struggle.However, it’s not all fun and games for Clara and her cronies, as I’d have you believe. There’s some serious stuff that needs to be done too. Clara must learn to fly an anti-gravity flying machine, get the better of the Rex, the science centre’s nosy security guard, and his team of floating, spying robots, and if that’s not enough, toss in a scientific ghost, a prophetic dream or two, and a multitude of mysteries that surface along the way. What is Clara’s new stepmother keeping secret from everyone, and why is she being stalked by a weird ageing couple? Will Uncle Bob ever live down his disastrous and embarrassing wardrobe malfunction that made headlines? Will Clara ever win the heart of that gorgeous, kind young man she met at science cadets? Will Clara be able to save the day and stop the science centre from closing down for good? And why, oh why, is Shantilda just so nasty to everyone? Will she ever learn to be nice? And I almost forgot to ask, just what made that professor so surly in the first place? Are you out of breath yet? Poor Clara. It certainly isn’t easy being thirteen years old.