Libby Malin Sternberg was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and is still in love with the city of crabcakes, steamy summers, and ethnic neighborhoods. (What's not to love about a city that names its football team after an Edgar Allan Poe character?) Libby earned both bachelor's and master's degrees 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 Baltimore and Washington Operas, where she regularly had the thrill of walking through the stage doors of the Kennedy Center Opera House before being costumed and wigged for performance. She also sang with small opera and choral companies in the region. Alas, singing didn't pay all the bills so she turned to writing, working in a public relations office and then as a freelancer for various trade organizations and small newspapers. During a period of self-unemployment, she took her sister's advice and decided to pursue an unfulfilled dream--writing fiction. Her first young adult novel, Uncovering Sadie's Secrets, was a nominee for the prestigious Edgar Allan Poe award from Mystery Writers of America. The second in that mystery series was released in hardcover in November 2004. A third mystery in the series was released in 2008.
Gr 8-11-Bianca is a high school sophomore whose ear for gossip turns her into an information-hungry private investigator, or at least a PI-in-training. She befriends Sadie, only to learn that this strange new classmate from California is concerned about a "friend" who is being accused of murder. Bianca will risk everything to find out who Sadie really is. Sternberg's writing mimics the social speech of a typical 15-year-old girl; it's chock-full of hyperbole and self-confidence-boosting assertions. The author exposes her protagonist's hopes, fears, and insecurities with a fresh voice and she keeps Sadie's real secrets a mystery until the end. Sadie's relationships with friends and family are point-blank in their raw emotions and typify the rebellious nature of the teenager who also vies to be a hero to those she cares about. The epilogue reads as a PI's verbal summary of a case with suggestions for next time and overviews of what happened to the characters in the case. A great start to what looks like a continuing series.-Delia Fritz, Mercersburg Academy, PA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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