Friday Barnes, Undercover

If you have not read a Friday Barnes book, then you really don't know what you are missing!  Friday Barnes is a quirky, fifteen-year old girl detective with a Sheldon Cooper-like personality.  Her personal interactions are awkward, her knowledge seems infinite, and her ability to solve mysteries is uncanny.  And her best friend, Melanie Pelly, is just as strange as Friday herself - she is borderline narcoleptic, she is able to know instantly if someone is lying or telling the truth, and she is forever playing matchmaker with Friday and Ian Wainscott, the only boy (young man, I suppose at this point) to ever truly get under Friday's skin.  They are the most unlikely of friends, and yet their partnership has taken them on numerous adventures to solve countless crimes.  And now, here we are at book 10 of the series - and just in case you were wondering, yes, it is best if the series is read in order, as one book leads directly into the next (but thankfully, each book begins with the last few pages of the previous book, so the reader can catch up real quick before the new story begins....).

Friday Barnes, Undercover starts with Friday and her classmates still in Italy, where the class had taken a trip in the last book.  They are preparing to return home, but Friday has been approached by Interpol to become one of their agents, alongside her Uncle Bernie and her (maybe) boyfriend, Ian.  Friday is at a loss to know what to do, and thankfully, she is saved by a fortuitously timed telephone call from Melanie's older brother, Binky, who has found himself in a bit of a quandary.  It seems he is being court marshaled for alleged dereliction of duty, and only Friday can get him out of it!  So, she and Melanie sneak out and head over to Norway (after all, it's only a hop, skip, and a jump away from Italy, right?) to save Melanie's brother from the brig.

It's interesting that these books are beginning to delve more into Friday's personal life and the development of her relationship with Ian, as well as with those around her.  While we still get an over-arching mystery that Friday has to solve (in this case, it has to do with art being stolen from museums throughout the world), the number of smaller mysteries seems to be dwindling to allow more time for the soap opera that Friday's life is becoming.  We do get the mystery of what happened to her teacher's suitcase at the beginning ... and the mystery of who painted the back of a tortoise's shell ... and the mystery of the missing Haakon Stone ... but we also get Friday helping Binky pick out the right engagement ring for him to propose to Ingrid ... and we get Friday meeting a young prince who turns out to be just as awkward as she is in social situations ... and we get Friday wondering why Ian has shown up in Norway at Ingrid's birthday party - with a beautiful girl on his arm!

However, we also get the fun and adventure that always follows Friday on her mysteries - which ends up being at the Seed Vault in Svalbard (which, by the way, happens to be a very real place that happens to do the very thing explained in the book!).  The lights go out, something is stolen, and Friday is kidnapped and taken out into the freezing cold weather by some dastardly criminals.  And, of course, Ian is the only one who can save her.  And did I mention we also get a polar bear or two (along with some adorable polar bear cubs!)?

I think I'm enjoying the evolving storytelling and characterization as the series progresses.  Yes, Friday is still awkward and still an unrepentant know-it-all, but she's always becoming a teenager who recognizes her own idiosyncrasies and who is willing to apologize when she steps outside of society's accepted norm.  Plus, the growing relationship between her and Ian has been fun to watch as it develops, and I'm looking forward to what future stories have in store for these two.

I can't finish this posting without making mention of that cover - what was the artist thinking?  She's striking a very Macaulay Culkin pose there, right out of Home Alone!  Not sure it has anything to do with the story itself, and it certainly isn't in character with Friday.  I'm guessing the artist simply want to give Friday a different pose than she's had on any of the previous covers to date.

As always, Friday Barnes is a great read, and I'm glad to see the series is still going (I have yet to get books 11 and 12, but believe me, they are on my Amazon watch list to buy next!).

RATING:  9 well-read copies of War and Peace out of 10 for keeping the awkwardness, keeping the fun, keeping the mysteries, and keeping the adventure coming!