Latest Reviews of The Case of the Pen Gone Missing

First is Dr. Teri Lesesne's from her blog: http://professornana.livejournal.com/: She writes, "In a couple of hours, I head off to Chicago for ALA . Got up a little early to have coffee and play with Scout. Also managed to find time to read Rene Saldana's THE CASE OF THE PEN GONE MISSING (Arte Publico, 2009). This slim novel is a mystery along the lines of the Encyclopedia Brown books of the past. Fifth grader Mickey helps solve the case of a rare pen that goes missing in the classroom. The chief suspect is Toots, a classmate Mickey adores from afar. There is a nice twist with a mysterious letter from an "angel" which assists Mickey in solving the case. This new series will appeal to tweens and adds to the precious few books for this group with Hispanic main characters ( and Mickey's librarian is cool, too)." Thanks to her for her endless kindness to my books, and more so for her boundless advocacy for the tween and teen readers. No wonder my students love her Naked Reading, when I have occasion to use it.

The second is in the latest issue of Mystery Scene magazine, Issue No. 110, Summer 2009: "Child's Play: Books for Young Sleuths" by Roverta Rogow: "The Case of the Pen Gone Missing: A Mickey Rangel Mystery by René Saldaña, Jr. (Piñata Books, $9.95) is a tricky one for a young sleuth. The hitherto unattainable Toots Rodriguez solicits Mickey's help when she is accused of stealing a classmate's special pen, the one actually touched by the President of the United States when he signed a bill sponsored by the classmate's father. Mickey's observational skills are blunted by his attraction to this deadly damsel in distress, but a timely tip from a mysterious "Angel" puts him on the right track, and he not only finds the pen, but exposes the real culprit. A Spanish translation of the story is bound in with the English, making this a good choice for bilingual school and public library collections."

Check Out My Interview with Eric Ladau

Follow the link to hear my interview with Eric Ladau of Houston's KUHF/FM 88.5. Eric's been interviewing authors for sometime and it was my honor to hang out with him, be it over the phone, for the several minutes we got to talk. Be honest, though: I sound like a dork, right?

http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1243629401