Book Review- Vanishing Act

Feinstein, John, Yearling/Random House,  ISBN -9780440421252

Steve Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson pride themselves on mystery solving.  Steve and Susan have not seen each other in a while, in the past Steve and Susan worked on a project together and after they remained in touched with each other.  Steve and Susan both are in the reporting and writing  business.  Susan Carol gets an assignment cover the U.S. open and convinces Steve to come alone.  Steve gets a job as well and they both go to Washington.  Before the opening starts Nadia Makarova  one of the popular tennis players are missing and Steve and Susan Carol find themselves solving another mystery.  Steve and Susan Carol takes their job to a higher level and holds nothing back at expressing their eagerness to to work through a conversation with Kelleher who is a supervisor at the Washington Post "enough Kelleher exploded as if reading Steve's mind.  "We need to decide what to do next." He looked at Susan Carol and Steve. " You guys still up for working on this?'  "Are you kidding?" Steve said. " Of course we are. Intrigue is our specialty, don't you remember?".  Feinstein presented a live professional sporting event he used real scenes Arthur Ashe Stadium, Feinstein used both real and fictional sports players, and other personal of the US Open.
Feinstein uses action and suspense to keep the reader engaged, however if the reader is not familiar with the terms in tennis or the sports arena it may take a while to follow this novel.  Feinstein displayed bravery, determination, friendship, and foul play in the easy to read novel.

Discussion Questions

1.  Was Nadia really kidnapped and why?
2. Why was Steve and Susan Carol willing to solve this mystery?
3.What interest does Kelleher have in this mystery?

"The mystery will hold readers to the very end,culminating in an exciting match and surprise arrest"- Kirkus

"Although the main characters are predictable , the use of kid-friendly terminology, contemporary personalities in the tennis world, and factual information about the game may appeal to savvy tennis fans."-  School library Journal