Alice-Miranda in New York by Jacqueline Harvey

Title: Alice-Miranda in New York

Author: Jacqueline Harvey

Genre: Fiction/Mystery

Publisher: Puffin Australia

Published: 16^th July 2019/1^st February 2012

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: Alice-Miranda takes a bite out of the Big Apple!

Alice-Miranda is in bustling New York City. It’s a blur of skyscrapers, hot dog carts, chats with zoo animals and classes at Mrs Kimmel’s School for Girls, right next to glorious Central Park. Her family’s glamorous department store, Highton’s on Fifth, has just been renovated but plans for the fabulous re-opening party are going curiously wrong. Is that why Alice-Miranda’s father Hugh seems so worried? And why is her new friend Lucinda so shy about inviting Alice-Miranda home?

~*~

Our favourite little girl who can charm anyone is heading to New York for a month. Her mother Cecilia Highton-Smith is visiting to oversee renovations to her family store, Highton’s on Fifth. It’s due to re-open but a nefarious enemy is trying to undermine her. As Alice-Miranda spends her month at Mrs Kimmel’s School for Girls next to Central Park, she befriends Quincy Armstrong, Ava Lee and Lucinda Finkelstein, whose determined to keep Alice-Miranda a secret. To top it all off, Alethea, former head girl at Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale, now Thea MacKenzie, is at the school. Will Thea admit to her past? Can Alice-Miranda get to the bottom of Lucinda’s secrets? And why is Hugh Kennington-Jones so worried?

The fifth Alice-Miranda book is filled with fun, mystery, art, new friends and a cheeky dog. She’s there to learn, make friends, and uncover secrets that will change her family forever. It’s another rollicking Alice-Miranda mystery, where everything is ahead of Alice-Miranda and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it and to make friends everywhere she goes. As the novel goes on, we learn more about Lucinda and her family, the Finkelsteins. Poor Lucinda – she can’t do anything because her father controls her life, and who she is friends with. She’s terrified how he will react if were ever to find out about Alice-Miranda. So, Alice-Miranda sets her mind to being Lucinda’s friend, and working out who is making trouble for her mother. It’s all up to Alice-Miranda to find a solution as something else bubbles along in the background, because these books always have several elements going along that come together, and ways that link it to the other books in the series.

I’m reading the Alice-Miranda books I haven’t read yet, and am just about to start number six. I’m looking forward to seeing what else she gets up to next, because I had a lot of fun with Alice-Miranda in New York, and love that each book is going to take readers on a different journey and adventure as Alice-Miranda grows up and goes through school. Art is also a central theme in this book, with lots of connections that evolve throughout the story, and come to life with Alice-Miranda’s time in New York. This is a great addition to the series, and it’s wonderful seeing all the different experiences Alice-Miranda and her friends get to have in each book. I’m having such fun reading this series, because I think it’s exactly what I would have loved as a kid!

It seems that there is a mystery everywhere Alice-Miranda goes during the series, and New York is no exception. The city truly comes to life through Alice-Miranda’s experiences and new friends, who show the diversity of New York. Meeting their families was also fun and a great way to see how Alice-Miranda makes everyone she meets feel special.