Missing Persons #01: The Rose Queen

Sophie and Sam Shattenberg are two Jewish sisters from Queens, New York. Both love knishes and kosher pickles. Both have said“‛m wawki‛ here” to cab drivers—and meant it. When the unthinkable happens and their father dies, the girls are devastated. Desperate to get away from their greedy stepmother, they withdraw their fathe‛s money from the bank, pick up fake IDs, and hit the road. All is well until their car breaks down outside of Venice, Indiana, a town so isolated that the mechanic tells them,“You could get lost here forever” Which is exactly what they decide to do....

Sam and Sophie arrive in the small town of Venice, decide to stay, and try to blend in. They get jobs, make friends, and practice“talking the tal” instead of“tawking the tawk” Then the most popular girl in town—the queen of the upcoming Rose Festival—disappears. The sisters were the last people to see her and so become prime suspects. Sophie and Sam realize that the‛re going to have to find the missing girl themselves if they want to clear their names. Even if their names are fake....

"Despite an uneasy mix of humor and dark currents, this whodunit makes for an entertaining read. After their widower father dies, narrator Sophie Shattenberg, 15, and her 17-year-old sister Sam run away before Enid, their stepmother, can send Sophie to a boarding school 'focused on rehabilitating unruly youth.' The two head to Indianapolis, where a shady friend of Sam's knows an underworld boss, taking with them the $300,000 that Enid would have inherited. When their car breaks down in tiny Venice, Ind., the New York City teens try to blend with the quirky natives (the sisters pose as orphans from Cleveland). But nasty Noelle, the town's Rose Queen, goes missing after a fight with Sophie, and the siblings become suspects. To clear their names, they investigate Noelle's disappearance. Readers will likely be drawn to smart but ditzy Sophie and appreciate her bond with sensible Sam. Sophie's interactions with the inept brothers who comprise the town's police force and Venice's popular teens ('I thought that was a Cleveland accent,' Noelle says after hearing Sophie talk) make for some hilarious scenes. But the mood can be somber, too: Sophie and her sister remain well aware that they are alone in the world and Noelle's case turns out to be creepy — and is rather quickly resolved. Still, the mixed overtones likely won't stop readers from following the sisters' next adventure, The Chocolate Lover (ISBN 0-14-250042-9, due simultaneously), in which the girls act as assistants to Venice's only private detective, hired by an old man (whose last name is Shattenberg, too) to find his missing sweetheart. Ages 12-up. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

This first book in this new mystery series introduces Sophie and Sam Shattenberg, two Jewish sisters from Queens who have just lost their father. Sam and Sophie arrive in the small town of Venice, Indiana, and soon the most popular girl in town--the queen of the upcoming Rose Festival--disappears.

M. E. Rabb is a fresh voice in teen fiction. She has had numerous stories published in Seventeen magazine as well as in the Atlantic Monthly, Zoetrope, and the Chicago Review.