The Big Sleepover (Bubblegume Shoes #2) by Goldy Moldavsky
ISBN: 0593813804
Genres: Mystery
Format: Middle Grade Fiction
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The Big Sleepover (Bubblegum Shoes # 2)

Author: Goldy Moldavsky

This mystery novel for ages 8-12 is the second in the Bubblegum Shoes series. The Bubblegum Shoes Detective Agency is comprised of a group of 4 seventh grade girls at Marlowe Middle School in Hillside, New Jersey: Maya Mendoza, Jordan Freedman, Ava Agarwal, and Clementine Steffin-Paller. The girls are looking forward to enjoying The Big Sleepover, a night where the students spend the night in the school gymnasium and enjoy a Battle of the Bands. One of the contestants in the band battle is Hunter Holloway, an eighth grader and rising YouTube star from England who moved to Hillside when he started middle school. Hunter is being blackmailed by someone who wants him to drop out of the Battle by threatening to post a supposedly AI-generated unflattering deep fake video of him. Hunter enlists the help of the Bubblegum Shoes to find out who the culprit is.

The girls form a suspect list including: Arnie Arancielo (AKA “Papercut,” school bully known to be taking bets and suspected of fixing the Battle), Kaylee Krudd (Hunter’s toughest competitor in the Battle of the Bands), Angelina Chimichurri (Hunter’s ex-girlfriend and Clementine’s bitter rival), and Andrew Koi (a self-described computer geek deemed the only one capable of producing the blackmail video). The plot thickens when Hunter receives a threatening message using a voice changer app, and the girls find Hunter’s lucky leather cuff (which was previously stolen from his locker), in Kaylee’s art installation. As they start to eliminate suspects, they wonder if the blackmailer might in fact be one of their very own detectives. Or is the whole plot a publicity stunt?

The book contains several surprises to keep the reader engaged and guessing. While maintaining light-hearted humor, it touches upon tween-relevant themes of communication, friendship, honesty, and jealousy.  The diversity of the characters is a plus, but the large number of characters are difficult to keep track of.

4 stars

Reviewed by Lindsey Hopkins, Jay-Niles Memorial Library, Jay