Susan Pearson The Tap Dance Mystery (1990) “Eagle Eye Ernie”, aka Ernestine Jones, is the Sleuth of, um, er, Grade Two? That’s about right, I think, considering the reading level of this nicely done “Book for Young Readers”, as Simon and Schuster touts it. Ernie has to find out who stole Marcey’s tap dancing shoes, after Marcey has made herself very unpopular with her bossy and superior ways. She is supposed to teach Ernie’s group how to tap dance, you see. Well, in the end, Ernie finds the shoes, hidden in the piano. And Marcey turns out to be OK, and Jason turns out to be a better tapper than Marcey, and Marcey admits it. And Ernie’s group (with Marcey and Jason leading) put on a great performance. So that’s all right.
I have no idea how early readers would respond to this carefully “correct” story, with the boys and girls doing the same kinds of things, and everyone finally all lovey-dovey. The book was a discard from the Blind River Public Library, but it looks well and often read. ** (2005)
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