Elvis and Olive: Best Friends Make the Best Spies

On the first day of her vacation, super-student fourth-grader Natalie has set her first goal – to see how fast she can ride her bike around the block. As she starts, she is stopped by a most unconventional neighborhood child. With supreme confidence, Annie steps into Natalie’s path and her life, stopping Natalie’s pursuit of her goal, but starting a friendship. Secrets are Annie’s obsession, and she and Natalie take on their spy monikers – Elvis and Olive. They plan to spy on their neighbors and report their discovered secrets to each other, writing them onto note cards and tacking them onto the inside framework of the girls’ secret hideout under the porch. But what is the trouble with secrets? Oh, yes, they don’t stay secret for long. I was at first concerned that spying and collecting secrets would be glamorized in the story. However, the consequences the girls face and their remorse balance their indiscretions. This was an enjoyable read and reflected the turbulence in young adolescent friendships. Ages 9-12 240 pages
Recommended by Katherine Stehman, Elementary School Librarian.