Sam, an evangelical seventh-grader in Little Rock, shows both intelligence and spunk as she investigates local mysteries. With a police detective for a father and an investigative reporter for a mother, Sam knows the importance of asking uncomfortable questions and making careful observations. In this series opener, Sam and her best friend, Makayla, literally stumble onto a bomb planted in a movie theater that had recently come under attack by a group of atheists. Sam thinks this is the perfect story to boost her school-newspaper career and eagerly pursues the investigation, while Makayla tries to remind Sam to be more patient vice that Sam doesn't always heed, leading to hurt feelings and the threat of a lawsuit. Caroll offers an engaging exploration of Sam's age-appropriate development from black-and-white thinking to more nuanced understanding of the world. Her faith is an essential part of her character, which makes this series a good choice for young readers of similar background. Published simultaneously with On the Scene, in which Sam investigates a string of bullying attacks.

An intrepid middle school reporter gambles her career on cracking a bombing case. Samantha Sanderson, her best friend and Sam's cop father go out to the movies at a theater that's emptier than usual due to controversy over its being rented out by churches for a private screening of a religious movie, scheduled for the next day. There, they discover a bomb that's set to go off during the religious movie. Since Sam was on scene—and since her dad is the lead detective on the case—Sam earns the bomb-story assignment for the school paper's new blog, under a condition: constant, fresh articles. Her ambition leads her to write a series of witch-hunt pieces, each strongly insinuating the guilt of a suspect du jour: an outspoken atheist, the theater owner and a spokeswoman for an atheist group who has a history of mental illness. Self-righteous Sam ignores the effects her articles have on her suspects and her father's investigation; aside from occasional, fleeting moments of remorse, she faces very few consequences for her actions and sees too little character growth. Eventually, her endless snooping pays off, and she helps crack the case, which is all too obvious—compared to the scanty evidence implicating the red herrings, the in-broad-daylight clues pointing toward the real culprit make the police look positively incompetent. Publishing simultaneously is Samantha Sanderson on the Scene. Formulaic and forgettable. (discussion questions) (Mystery. 9-12)

CAROLL, Robin . Samantha Sanderson: On the Scene . 264p. Bk. 2. pap. ISBN 9780310742470 . ea vol: (Faithgirlz!). Zonderkidz . May 2014. $8.99. Gr 5-7 Seventh-grader Samantha Sanderson dreams of becoming an award-winning journalist just like her mom. She hopes that being a reporter for the middle school newspaper will lead to bigger and brighter things down the road. In At the Movies , Sam catches a big break when she and her computer whiz friend, Makayla, unwittingly discover a bomb set to go off at the local movie theater the next day during the showing of a controversial Christian film. Sam's dad, a police detective, is assigned to the case, and Sam is certain that he'll feed her insider information to help her write her article and blog posts. Sam's articles make a splash, but not necessarily in the way she wants. The second book, On the Scene , finds Sam and Makayla investigating a case of bullying that involves mysterious notes and packages. This Christian fiction mystery series aimed at tweens delivers a mostly realistic main character, with a supportive family, and a strong faith in God. The scenes at Sam and Makayla's church are thoughtful, and could invite some good discussion, yet manage to avoid being preachy. Sam's faith is part of her life, but at no time does it overshadow other aspects of her personality. Despite the fact that Sam's middle school sometimes seems more like a high school, the trials of the middle school years are well captured. Recommend for libraries where Christian fiction is in demand. Heather Webb, Worthington Libraries, OH