Minerva Clark is a typical thirteen-year-old girl: she hates her hair, she hates her legs (which somehow manage to look both too fat and too skinny at the same time), and don't get her started on her gigantor bootie. On top of all this puberty, she's being raised by three older brothers, none of whom really get her. But when a fateful encounter with a lightning storm rewires her sense of self, Minerva Clark becomes anything but a typical teen. With a brazen new attitude and a nose for trouble, Minerva soon finds herself drawn inexplicably to the scene of a murder and determined to track down the killer. If only all the clues weren't pointing so close to someone she knows...

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Bookseller Praise
"I loved this book!. . . . This is the perfect mystery for girls who have just outgrown Nancy Drew." -Patricia Sanders, Barnes & Noble, Towson, MD
"Great mystery for grade schoolers." -Susan Rose, Snoop Sisters, Belleau, FL
Reviews
"Karbo's (The Stuff of Life, for adults) first book for young readers. . . takes kids on an entertaining, curve-filled ride. . . .The narrator's relationships with her caring siblings and her recurring musings about missing her mother add poignancy to this cleverly tangled whodunit. Minerva will quite easily win fans who will hope that another mystery needs her attention." -Publishers Weekly, on-line exclusive
"Interspersed with Minerva's amusing revelations is an entertaining mystery with engaging characters and a positive theme." -School Library Journal


"A. . . cross between Nancy Drew and Adrian Monk, investigating a complex web of check fraud, theft and murder involving her previously-thought-perfect glamour-girl cousin, Jordan ('On the days I didn't want to be her, I hated her.')"-Kirkus Reviews

"Karbo's innovative, good-natured satire of adolescent girl behavior shines when portraying Minerva's quirky but affectionate home life, in which her t