Rhyme is stuck home all alone for the summer with her friends, crush, and even her family away while she's staying with a neighbor. Between having to do work at the library archives and getting extra tutoring for a big standardized test, Rhyme is sure to have a dull summer break ahead of her. That is, until she meets a pair of out-of-town teen-aged twins who are on a quest to find their real grandfather before an evil uncle can give them up to foster care.

This mystery caught my eye because the cover looked reminiscent of the old Nancy Drew novels I read as a child. It turns out that "Chicken Girls" is already a very popular web video series, which I was unaware of and helps explain how sometimes I felt a little like I had accidentally skipped the first book in the series (rather than the truth that I was reading the first book in the series!). Still, for the most part, I felt like things were explained enough so that I didn't feel left out of the loop.

The mystery itself was pretty good; I sort of guessed at where it was going, but younger readers might not. Certain concepts (like deceased parents, the threat of foster care, etc.) could be a little scary for some readers, but overall this book is fine for children much younger than the protagonist's 13 years. (Depending on the individual reader's skill level and interests, I'd put the audience primarily between 8 and 12 years old.)

For the audiobook aficionado, Rachel Jacobs did an excellent job narrating this book. ( )