This is a new tween book series by Leslie Margolis. "Girl's Best Friend" is the first in the series released October 2011, and a second book "Vanishing Act" was released January 2012. In reading a "Girl's Best Friend", I believe this is a nice step up from Junie B. Jones for slightly older girls who have grown out of the Junie B. stage, but still like to see a girl main character that has fun and crazy adventures.
In "Girl's Best Friend", Maggie Brooklyn Sinclair accidentally starts her own dog walking business, but not all is how it should be with the neighborhood dogs. Maggie soon has to become somewhat of a detective in order to find her ex-best friends dog that has been dog napped. The dog napper is holding it for ransom, and the local police just aren't taking her friend seriously. The first part of the book mainly develops the characters since it is the first in the series, but since it is not a slow read it keeps you interested from the beginning. The author introduces all the characters in a fun and entertaining way. We also soon find out that Maggie has a twin brother which adds interest to the story. Maggie's friends, neighbors and family all are colorful and interesting, which also helps to keep the reader drawn to the story.
There are references to Nancy Drew in this book. Maggie even reads some Nancy Drew books in hopes it will help her solve the missing dog mystery. Maggie seems to like the books but finds they don't relate to her real world situation. I think that was a good comparison by the author. This book series seems truly meant to be a modern day realistic Nancy Drew type book series. I found it to be an easy reading format that keeps a readers' interest from the beginning to end, and also draws you into wanting to read the next book in the series. This book was cute and even had a mystery within a mystery. She gave just enough clues to help the reader solve the case along with Maggie while trying not to be obvious. This book was a fun read and would be great for tween girls.
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