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And Then There Were Crumbs by Eve Calder and Christa Lewis (Narrator)
Art Matters by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell
Batman: Detective Comics, Volume 1: The Neighborhood by Mariko Tamaki and Dan Mora (Illustrations)
Blue-Ribbon Henry by Mary Calhoun and Erick Ingraham (Illustrator)
Claws for Alarm by Cate Conte and Amy Melissa Bently (narrator)
Coached in the Act by Victoria Laurie
Death by Hot Apple Cider by Alex Erickson
The First Misadventure by Doreen Cronin and Kevin Cornell (Illustrations)
Ghostal Living by Kathleen Bridge and Vanessa Daniels (Narrator)
Gladys the Magic Chicken by Adam Rubin and Adam Rex (Illustrations)
Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett
Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala and Danice Cabanela (Narrator)
Honey Roasted by Cleo Coyle and Rebecca Gibel (Narrator)
Hot and Sour Suspects by Vivien Chien
Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura (Illustrator)
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
One True Loves by Elise Bryant
Orlando by Virginia Woolf and Clare Higgins (Narrator)
Paola Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares by Tehlor Kay Mejia
The Princess in Black and the Giant Problem by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and LeUyen Pham (illustrator)
Private I. Guana: The Case of the Missing Chameleon by Nina Laden
Spirits and Sourdough by Bailey Cates
Steeple, Volume 2: The Silvery Moon by John Allison
The Suicide Murders by Howard Engel
Valley of the Moon by Melanie Gideon
With Lots of Love by Jenny Torres Sanchez and Andres Ceolin (Illustrations)

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5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish



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Private I. Guana: The Case of the Missing Chameleon: 03/28/22

Private I. Guana: The Case of the Missing Chameleon

Private I. Guana: The Case of the Missing Chameleon by Nina Laden is a picture book missing persons mystery. Or more precisely, it's a missing chameleon story, written in a child friendly homage to the hardboiled detective novels and movies of the past.

The mystery hinges on the realization that Leon is working under the name Camille. See they're a gender queer Camille-Leon. This plot twist has been done before in this genre; it was a trope in the 1970s and 1980s. Often the plot twist is cringeworthy. But here it's done respectfully and matter of factly.

My one quibble is in the epilog. Leon's family is supportive of their new career as a performer. He's encouraged to follow his dream but in his epilog show he's performing as Leon, not Camille. It would have been nice to show that the familial support includes being openly gender queer.

Four stars

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