Read this as part of my researching-agents project. Strong, funny female main character -- lots of female characters of all ages, in fact, including a police detective. Just realized how admirable that is: Summy manages to make a primarily female cast seem as natural and unforced as do the primarily male casts of so many movies and novels. The plot twists were handled expertly, and the paranormal premise is engaging. ( )

Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com

In Barry Summy's I SO DON'T DO FAMOUS, almost eighth grade Sherry Baldwin's going to Hollywood! Yeah, you heard right. Her essay on true love won first place in the Hollywood Girl contest and the prize, you guessed it, is a week in Hollywood! Movie stars, swimmin' pools, and...ghosts!

Sherry asks her übercute boyfriend, Josh, to go with her, but over an orange banana smoothie he gets all squirmy and mumbly. How can you be an expert on love when your almost ninth grade boyfriend is more interested in water polo practice than a romantic trip to the film capital of the world?

So, Sherry finds herself in Hollywood with her dad and her best friend, Junie. Her mom, who happens to have died in the line of duty a couple of years ago, plans to join her there at the Roosevelt Hotel. She'll be working on the Marilyn Monroe mystery for the Academy of Spirits, and Marilyn is known to show up in a mirror at the hotel. Sherry's hoping a week visiting places like the Walk of Fame and the wax museum with Junie, her coffee-scented mom, and her dad and his corny jokes will help her forget that Josh isn't texting her.

Instead, she finds herself embroiled in the mystery of the missing purse with the diamond clasp. To make it worse, it's all over the World Wide Web of the Dead that she was present during the robbery, and it's all her fault. Unfortunately, the detective on the case is totally clueless, so when Sherry meets Leah, an over-zealous teen ghost who smells of root beer, she has no choice but to include her in the investigation. Sherry knows that if she doesn't solve the mystery, The Academy of Spirits may not ever let her work with her mom on a case again.

Will Leah blow her cover? Will Sherry be arrested for burglary? Will she be banned from The Academy of Spirits forever? And what about Josh? Is he ever going to text her again?

Barry Summy has whipped up another wonderful paranormal mystery in I SO DON'T DO FAMOUS. She'll keep you guessing and laughing with every turn of the page. And if you haven't read the other three Sherry Baldwin mysteries, I highly recommend them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll see Sherry at the movies. And don't be surprised if the heavenly scent of your buttered popcorn mingles with a whiff of coffee and root beer! ( )

The Good Stuff

* Realistic relationships between Sherry and her friends and family
* Like the relationship she has between Sherry and her stepmom - very realistic but loving
* Adorable engaging heroine - you just want to hug her, going to have to check out the rest of the series
* Nice light mystery for the younger set - Perfect for the suggested age group
* Full of fun Hollywood trivia and pop culture references
* Short quick moving story will hold the interests of even the most reluctant reader
* Middle school girls will be able to relate to a lot of Sherry's emotions ( I vaguely remember them)

The Not so Good Stuff

* As an adult reading it, I wanted to roll my eyes a couple of time, but just kept telling myself this book isn't written for a 40 yr old women
* Not a lot of conflict so the more mature middle school girl might get frustrated or bored

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"Hmpf." he says. "I can think of some music that would really get this place hopping."
"Dad, Celine Dion is not the musical answer to all situations." I say.

"I can't believe I just rode in an elevator with my dad and my ghost mom. And didn't think about how bizarre it was, especially given that my dad is totally oblivious to my mom's presence."
"Lorraine, Stef and I traipse to the restroom together, because even burglary girls hit the restroom in groups"
What I Learned

* That I wish I could talk to the ghost of my dead Mom

Who should/shouldn't read

* Perfect for middle school girls, I would have loved to read it at that age
* Not for the more mature middle school girl, as it is sort of light and fluffy (and that is not a bad thing, just a heads up)

4 Dewey's

I received this from Random House of Canada in exchange for an honest review ( )