Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective

July 1, 2000
Gr. 1^-3. Everyone's favorite boy detective returns in this new adventure in which Nate and his dog, Sludge, journey to San Francisco to visit Nate's detective cousin, Olivia Sharp. Olivia is busy solving mysteries, so she sends her chauffeur to the airport. Nate agrees to take one of her cases when the client tells Nate that the world will come to an end if he does not find his lost joke book. As with the other books in the series, an obvious solution presents itself, and Nate thinks he has the case solved; but it's never that simple. In the end, Nate proves he deserves his title of greatness, and youngsters get another first-rate mystery to solve along with him. Familiar characters and themes are given new life in the San Francisco setting, and Olivia and her chauffeur, Willie, are two promising new characters readers will look forward to meeting again. Weston's watercolor illustrations, in the style of the series' original illustrator, Marc Simont, manage to have a somewhat modern-day look while retaining the flavor of the 1970s, when the groundbreaking series first debuted. ((Reviewed July 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2001
Olivia Sharp, the feather boa-toting detective from another Sharmat series, makes a guest appearance in the latest Nate the Great mystery. During a visit to San Francisco, Nate helps lighten his cousin Olivia's caseload by tracking down a missing joke book. As always, the easy reader's subtle humor--in both the text and watercolors--and trademark clipped prose will please fans young and old.

(Copyright 2001 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)