Many people believe that a legendary treasure was hidden inside the capsule. The only excitement in the new town is the upcoming Founder's Day Festival at the center of which will be the opening of a time capsule. Randi, without her father's knowledge, has acted as a sleuth solving small mysteries in her old neighborhood. Randi is upset and resentful when her father decides they should move from New York to his small Tennessee hometown. Twelve-year-old Randi Rhodes is the daughter of a popular mystery writer. Spencer's book is an excellent middle school mystery. The story itself is trite and nothing new, but the character development and relationships are worth a quick read. Although the setting makes this a bit far-fetched, it's nice to have multiracial representation, and having a number of strong women, including a female Sheriff, is refreshing. She also finds an unlikely (for rural Tennessee) multicultural mix of friends, a Latino, an African-American, and a Chinese nanny/daddy's girlfriend (?).
The best thing about this book is Spencer's attention to her heroine's emotional life, a recently deceased mother, a distant and preoccupied father, a move from urban New York to rural Tennessee. The chapters are peppered with inconsistent appendices - activities that extend the action, Try this at home! - an interesting idea that falls a bit flat in my view. Scooby Do enthusiasts will recognize the formulaic plot - those meddlesome kids, bad guys in suits, the secret treasure and the wholesome reward at the end. With her new stardom, she found a contract with Simon & Schuster, and the second in the series will follow shortly. Her Hollywood mentor, Sandra Bullock, gave it a read and encouraged her to seek a publisher. Octavia Spencer, Academy Award-winner of The Help, started writing this book 13 years ago.
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