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Rating: 
Summary: Nancy Drew Times Three
Review: In his first novel, "The Sullivan Girls and the Mystery of Moonhouse," A. G. Deiss has created a wonderful mystery in which the protagonists, based loosely upon Mr. Deiss's three young daughters, chase lizards, discover gold, learn of the Anasazi Indian culture that thrived in the American West until approximately 1300 C.E., tangle with outlaws and (as I can safely reveal without giving away any surprises) manage to come home safely at the end of it all. I infer from Mr. Deiss's writing style that he spent much of his own childhood around a campfire bereft of music video, sitcoms, and other manifestations of our instant gratification culture. At a scant 93 pages, "Moonhouse" is nevertheless written like a tantalizing shaggy dog tale; the story never unfolds quickly enough to occupy the reader's full attention, and as a consequence, I caught myself often trying to solve the mystery before the Sullivan Girls could beat me to the punch. Mr. Deiss is clearly aware of, and takes obvious pleasure in, the impatient anticipation of his reader. By the end of the first page, his narrator is already demanding that we stop our sleuthing and fidgeting if he is going to continue the campfire tale: "Is it a true story? What kind of question is that? Anyway, no more questions. Sit still and listen or you will never find out what heroic adventures they had, or learn about the scary things that happened to them, or about the mysteries they solved all by themselves." As with any good storyteller, however, Mr. Deiss does not permit his contract with the reader to interfere with the pleasure of the story itself. Having obtained our full attention once more, Mr. Deiss teases us again with the slow unwinding of his yarn: "There, no more than three feet in front of her, was a pair of black cowboy boots, and in the boots a pair of legs . . . . The legs were connected to hips, a bid silver rodeo belt buckle, a stomach, a barrel chest, a face, and two intensely dark eyes." The joke on the reader is a good one, for it is the very deliberate pacing of Mr. Deiss's tale that makes it so successful. Mr. Deiss gives the reader time and space to visualize, imagine, and walk the Utah deserts with the Sullivan Girls in search of the answer to their mystery. Reading through the intricately worked puzzles of "Moonhouse" evoked for me the childhood thrills of Encyclopedia Brown, the Hardy Boys, and other young detectives who found their way into serial misadventure. I am led to believe from the story and liner notes that Mr. Deiss's daughters, Felix, Emmaline, and Isabel, now range in age from five to nine. Hopefully that will give Mr. Deiss time to conjure a few more mysteries for the Sullivan Girls before his muses depart for college.
Rating:
Summary: Nancy Drew Times Three
Review: In his first novel, "The Sullivan Girls and the Mystery of Moonhouse," A. G. Deiss has created a wonderful mystery in which the protagonists, based loosely upon Mr. Deiss's three young daughters, chase lizards, discover gold, learn of the Anasazi Indian culture that thrived in the American West until approximately 1300 C.E., tangle with outlaws and (as I can safely reveal without giving away any surprises) manage to come home safely at the end of it all. I infer from Mr. Deiss's writing style that he spent much of his own childhood around a campfire bereft of music video, sitcoms, and other manifestations of our instant gratification culture. At a scant 93 pages, "Moonhouse" is nevertheless written like a tantalizing shaggy dog tale; the story never unfolds quickly enough to occupy the reader's full attention, and as a consequence, I caught myself often trying to solve the mystery before the Sullivan Girls could beat me to the punch. Mr. Deiss is clearly aware of, and takes obvious pleasure in, the impatient anticipation of his reader. By the end of the first page, his narrator is already demanding that we stop our sleuthing and fidgeting if he is going to continue the campfire tale: "Is it a true story? What kind of question is that? Anyway, no more questions. Sit still and listen or you will never find out what heroic adventures they had, or learn about the scary things that happened to them, or about the mysteries they solved all by themselves." As with any good storyteller, however, Mr. Deiss does not permit his contract with the reader to interfere with the pleasure of the story itself. Having obtained our full attention once more, Mr. Deiss teases us again with the slow unwinding of his yarn: "There, no more than three feet in front of her, was a pair of black cowboy boots, and in the boots a pair of legs . . . . The legs were connected to hips, a bid silver rodeo belt buckle, a stomach, a barrel chest, a face, and two intensely dark eyes." The joke on the reader is a good one, for it is the very deliberate pacing of Mr. Deiss's tale that makes it so successful. Mr. Deiss gives the reader time and space to visualize, imagine, and walk the Utah deserts with the Sullivan Girls in search of the answer to their mystery. Reading through the intricately worked puzzles of "Moonhouse" evoked for me the childhood thrills of Encyclopedia Brown, the Hardy Boys, and other young detectives who found their way into serial misadventure. I am led to believe from the story and liner notes that Mr. Deiss's daughters, Felix, Emmaline, and Isabel, now range in age from five to nine. Hopefully that will give Mr. Deiss time to conjure a few more mysteries for the Sullivan Girls before his muses depart for college.
Rating:
Summary: Great southwestern adventure!
Review: Mr. Deiss captures captures the wild beauty of the early 20th century southwest in this rousing adventure of three young sisters who demonstrate courage, observational skills and logic in solving a mystery together. While suitable for 9-12 year olds, it would be a great book to read to younger children as well.
Rating:
Summary: This book is perfect.
Review: This book will keep you on the edge of your seat in suspense! It is just simply amazing . There are so many clues and in the end they fit together in just the perfect way.It is a great book and if that does not convince you to read this book then I will just have to tell you some of the story , but I can not tell you too much. Okay that means I should get started so, there are tree sisters who all love adventure and when the eldest fractures her leg that means trouble she has to stay on the couch all day and when her sisters leave to catch a male lizzard they saw the day before she gets bord and sets out on her fractured leg ,which shes not supposed to walk around on ,they meet some criminals one claiming to be Butch Cassidy the famous outlaw ,and they get captured by them ,but I can not tell you how or if they escape .So if you want to find out you will just have to find out by reading the book.
Rating:
Summary: This book is perfect.
Review: This book will keep you on the edge of your seat in suspense! It is just simply amazing . There are so many clues and in the end they fit together in just the perfect way.It is a great book and if that does not convince you to read this book then I will just have to tell you some of the story , but I can not tell you too much. Okay that means I should get started so, there are tree sisters who all love adventure and when the eldest fractures her leg that means trouble she has to stay on the couch all day and when her sisters leave to catch a male lizzard they saw the day before she gets bord and sets out on her fractured leg ,which shes not supposed to walk around on ,they meet some criminals one claiming to be Butch Cassidy the famous outlaw ,and they get captured by them ,but I can not tell you how or if they escape .So if you want to find out you will just have to find out by reading the book.
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