Teen Fiction - Mysteries & Thrillers, Women Detectives - Fiction

Finding the Forger: A Bianca Balducci Mystery

Name: Finding the Forger: A Bianca Balducci Mystery
Author: Libby Sternberg
ISBN: 9781890862374

by Libby Sternberg

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Overview

Bianca Balducci, everybody’s favorite teenage amateur sleuth, is back on the case, and this time the resourceful Baltimorean has her hands more than full.

On top of school (St. John’s), her two bickering friends (Kerrie and Sarah), and boy trouble (Doug), Bianca is brought in to prove the innocence of Hector, Sarah’s latest heart throb, who’s considered the prime suspect in a clever switcheroo at the local art museum—several paintings have gone missing, and forgeries hung in their place.

But things get awfully complicated when Connie, Bianca’s PI older sister, is hired by the museum to formally investigate the crime.

And that’s just the half of it. Doug, Bianca’s fabulous new boyfriend, isn’t paying as much attention to her as she’d like, while a charming and rich Brit named Neville seems more than willing to take Doug’s place. Can Bianca manage to keep Doug’s affections while gently fending off Neville?

And what about the Christmas shopping she must do, the party she’s got to plan, and the PI sister she desperately wants to impress? Most important, can she repair a home perm gone so awry she can only hope to have the appearance of human hair?

In this story of mis-assumptions, Bianca learns that things are not always as they seem, that all cases are not so open-and-shut, and that connected with every valuable painting is the possibility of a forgery.

Finding the Forger, the sequel to the acclaimed series debut Uncovering Sadie’s Secrets, proves to be another hilarious adventure in the world of Bianca Balducci, regular teenager turned mystery-solver extraordinaire.

Synopsis

Bianca Balducci, everybody's favorite teenage amateur sleuth, is back on the case, and this time the resourceful Baltimorean has her hands more than full. On top of school (St. John's), her two bickering friends (Kerrie and Sarah), and boy trouble (Doug), Bianca is brought in to prove the innocence of Hector, Sarah's latest heart throb, who's considered the prime suspect in a clever switcheroo at the local art museum--several paintings have gone missing, and forgeries hung in their place. But things get awfully complicated when Connie, Bianca's PI older sister, is hired by the museum to formally investigate the crime. And that's just the half of it. Doug, Bianca's fabulous new boyfriend, isn't paying as much attention to her as she'd like, while a charming and rich Brit named Neville seems more than willing to take Doug's place. Finding the Forger, the sequel to the acclaimed series debut Uncovering Sadie's Secrets, proves to be another hilarious adventure in the world of Bianca Balducci, regular teenager turned mystery solver extraordinaire.

About the Author, Libby Sternberg

A Baltimore native, Libby earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and also attended the summer American School of Music in Fontainebleau, France. After graduating from Peabody, she worked as a Spanish gypsy, a Russian courtier, a Middle-Eastern slave, a Japanese geisha, a Chinese peasant, and a French courtesan—that is, she sang as a union chorister in both the Baltimore and Washington Operas, where she regularly had the thrill of walking through the stage doors of the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. before being costumed and wigged for performance. She also sang with small opera and choral companies in the region.

For many years, she and her family lived in Vermont, where she worked as an education reform advocate promoting school choice policies, contributed occasional commentaries to Vermont Public Radio, and was a member of the Vermont Commission on Women.

Libby’s first young adult novel, Uncovering Sadie’s Secrets, was a finalist for the prestigious Edgar Allan Poe award from the Mystery Writers of America. The second in her Bianca Balducci mystery series, Finding the Forger, was released in hardcover in November 2004 (both were published as mass-market paperbacks by Smooch). Her debut adult novel, Loves Me, Loves Me Not (published under the name Libby Malin) was released in 2005 to critical acclaim.

She is married, has three children, and lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

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Editorials

VOYA

Analytical Bianca Balducci and her best friends, Kerrie and Sadie, are back to entertain readers in this sequel to Uncovering Sadie's Secrets (Bancroft, 2002). This time Bianca finds herself smack in the middle of a case involving art forgery and theft at a local museum where Sadie works part-time. When Bianca's private eye sister, Connie, is hired to investigate the crime, the plot thickens. Unfortunately the chief suspect is Hector, a museum security guard and Sadie's new love interest. Further complicating matters, Sadie and Kerrie are not getting along, forcing Bianca to mediate between them, and Bianca's boyfriend Doug seems to be paying far too much attention to Kerrie while Neville, a suave English boy, is trying to sweep Bianca off her feet. This lively and captivating mystery is even more fun than the first. In spite of all her worries, brave Bianca manages to solve the mystery just in time to come to the rescue of Connie, who has been kidnapped by the criminal. In spite of a few confusing twists, the plot comes together nicely in the end, with the forger having been caught, Bianca and Doug having made up, and Kerrie and Sarah getting along again. Bianca is as loveable as ever, and female readers will identify with her frustration concerning her family members, her friends, Doug, and of course, the upcoming Mistletoe Dance. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2004, Bancroft Press, 192p., and Trade pb. Ages 11 to 15.
—Dotsy Harland

Kirkus Reviews

This second installment in a series of mysteries featuring Bianca Balducci, 15-year-old detective wannabe, has the feisty sophomore involved in tracking down an art thief. The mystery takes second place in this story, providing a support to a plot primarily concerned with humor and relationships. Bianca risks losing boyfriend Doug as she allows jealousy of her best friend Kerrie-who is spending altogether too much time with Doug-to interfere with both relationships. Meanwhile, Bianca meets handsome, sexy, and very British Neville, the son of a wealthy member of the board of the local art museum, where someone has been replacing valuable modern art with forgeries. Sternberg throws in a couple of nice red herrings along with some action sequences that make the story satisfying, but keeps her focus on the kind of humor that should appeal to high-school readers. (Fiction. 12-15)

Angela McQuay, Mystery Morgue

"Libby Sternberg’s second Bianca Balducci mystery is simply a delight to read. Bianca is one of the funniest characters to come out of young adult fiction in years, and her inner monologue is impossible to resist. Add to this an interesting mystery, colorful supporting characters, and perfect pacing, and you have a book that’s perfect for kids and adults alike."

Booklist -

“What’s fun about this is Bianca’s first-person voice––droll, yet totally teen. Bianca is a kid who seems very real. A good alternative to Nancy Drew.”

Kirkus Reviews

"Sternberg throws in a couple of nice red herrings along with some action sequences that make the story satisfying, but keeps her focus on the kind of humor that should appeal to high-school readers. (Fiction, 12-15)”

School Library Journal

“Bianca is an extremely likable character: smart, funny, and able to find humor in the worst situations. The author does a great job of capturing her voice, conveying all of Bianca's insecurities and doubts as well as her triumphs. Although the second in a series, the novel can stand alone, but readers will undoubtedly want to check out Uncovering Sadie's Secrets (Bancroft, 2003) to fill in the gaps. An entertaining read.”

VOYA, 4Q4PM*J

"This lively and captivating mystery is even more fun than the first. In spite of all her worries, brave Bianca manages to solve the mystery just in time to come to the rescue of Connie, who has been kidnapped by the criminal. Bianca is as lovable as ever, and female readers will identify with her frustration concerning her family members, her friends, Doug, and of course, the upcoming Mistletoe Dance.”