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The Gabby St. Claire Diaries #1
The Curtain Call Caper
Is a ghost haunting the Oceanside Middle School auditorium? What else could explain the disasters surrounding the school play—everything from missing scripts to a falling spotlight and damaged props?
All seventh grader Gabby St. Claire has dreamed about is being a part of her school’s musical. But a series of unfortunate events threatens to shut down the whole production. While trying to track down the culprit and save her fifteen minutes of fame, she also has to manage impossible teachers, cliques, her dysfunctional family, and a secret she can’t even tell her best friend.
Will Gabby figure out who or what is sabotaging the show . . . or will it be curtains for her and the rest of the cast?
Perfect reading for middle grade readers. Grade: 4th and up. Age: 8 and up.
The Gabby St. Claire Diaries follows the life of a young Gabby St. Claire, as featured in the Squeaky Clean Mystery series.
All seventh grader Gabby St. Claire has dreamed about is being a part of her school’s musical. But a series of unfortunate events threatens to shut down the whole production. While trying to track down the culprit and save her fifteen minutes of fame, she also has to manage impossible teachers, cliques, her dysfunctional family, and a secret she can’t even tell her best friend.
Will Gabby figure out who or what is sabotaging the show . . . or will it be curtains for her and the rest of the cast?
Perfect reading for middle grade readers. Grade: 4th and up. Age: 8 and up.
The Gabby St. Claire Diaries follows the life of a young Gabby St. Claire, as featured in the Squeaky Clean Mystery series.
211 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 10, 2014
34 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
Christy Barritt
332 books1,661 followersChristy Barritt is an author, freelance writer and speaker who lives in Virginia. She’s married to her Prince Charming, a man who thinks she’s hilarious—but only when she’s not trying to be. Christy’s a self-proclaimed klutz, an avid music lover who’s known for spontaneously bursting into song, and a road trip aficionado. She’s only won one contest in her life—and her prize was kissing a pig (okay, okay… actually she did win the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Suspense and Mystery also). Her current claim to fame is showing off her mother, who looks just like former First Lady Barbara Bush
When she’s not working or spending time with her family, she enjoys singing, playing the guitar, and exploring small, unsuspecting towns where people have no idea how accident prone she is.
When she’s not working or spending time with her family, she enjoys singing, playing the guitar, and exploring small, unsuspecting towns where people have no idea how accident prone she is.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 21, 2024
This was a fun read, even though it's geared for young readers, about how Gabby St. Claire became an amateur sleuth as a teen. She also has to navigate middle school cliques, classes, life, and her growing interest in boys. This is a fairly quick read.
November 8, 2019
Fun reading.
June 29, 2023
A cute series about Gabby St.. Clair as a younger girl.Th series is written by Christy Barritt and Kathy Applebee. I enjoyed seeing Gabby as a youngster.
July 10, 2014
Gabby St. Claire is extremely excited about the upcoming school play. She and her best friend are determined to make the most of it, even though the high school kids will likely get all the big roles. They just want the chance to be in the show. But it seems like someone, or something, is trying to make sure the show does not go on. Could it be a student or a teacher trying to sabotage the show? Or is it a ghost? Gabby decides to get to the bottom of it and save the show.
The Curtain Call Caper by Christy Barritt and Kathy Applebee is a spin-off of Barritt’s adult Squeaky Clean Mysteries series about crime scene cleaner Gabby St. Claire. I haven't read that series, but I will definitely check it out. Gabby is an interesting character, at least when she's in middle school. It would be fun to see what she's like as an adult!
A bit of a klutz, Gabby is a kind girl and a good friend. Unfortunately, she has to deal with middle grade cliques and all the challenges that go along with that, but the story doesn't get too serious. It has a pretty good upbeat feeling throughout. There are plenty of characters to look up to, both kids and adults. And the mystery of why spotlights are dropping and scripts are missing is engaging.
Overall, this was a fun middle grade mystery that should appeal to late elementary and early middle school readers. There's nothing too heavy or objectionable in this one. And there's a free novel study pack available for teachers and homeschoolers, if you want to add it to your curriculum!
The Curtain Call Caper by Christy Barritt and Kathy Applebee is a spin-off of Barritt’s adult Squeaky Clean Mysteries series about crime scene cleaner Gabby St. Claire. I haven't read that series, but I will definitely check it out. Gabby is an interesting character, at least when she's in middle school. It would be fun to see what she's like as an adult!
A bit of a klutz, Gabby is a kind girl and a good friend. Unfortunately, she has to deal with middle grade cliques and all the challenges that go along with that, but the story doesn't get too serious. It has a pretty good upbeat feeling throughout. There are plenty of characters to look up to, both kids and adults. And the mystery of why spotlights are dropping and scripts are missing is engaging.
Overall, this was a fun middle grade mystery that should appeal to late elementary and early middle school readers. There's nothing too heavy or objectionable in this one. And there's a free novel study pack available for teachers and homeschoolers, if you want to add it to your curriculum!
December 9, 2014
I Love Christy Barritt! This book was perfect for my 11 year old, whom doesn't like reading, and had to give a book report on a mystery book. It wasn't personally one of favorite Christy Barritt books but I tried to remember that it is geared towards kids and when I kept that in mind I loved it. My daughter thought it was a great book and didn't find it predicable. She read thru it easily and wrote a great book report in it. I think it is a great introduction to Gabby and it was fun to read about the her younger year that you read a bit about in the squeaky clean series. I definitely recommend all of those and hope my daughter will some day read them as well. All in all it was a great book for kids!
December 29, 2014
11/16/14-11/18/14
This is book 1 of the Gabby St. Claire diaries and takes us back in time to when Gabby is twelve years old and dealing with life as a middle schooler.
Gabby is part of the cast of Oklahoma at school and someone is sabotaging the props, costumes and play. Can Gabby and her bff Becca find out the person who is behind these incidents, or is it truly a ghost like the rumors say?
This book was lots of fun and gives you a glimpse inside of Gabby's life when she had both parents living. I love that she has her same quirky sense of humor. A must for anyone who loves the Squeaky Clean Mysteries!
This is book 1 of the Gabby St. Claire diaries and takes us back in time to when Gabby is twelve years old and dealing with life as a middle schooler.
Gabby is part of the cast of Oklahoma at school and someone is sabotaging the props, costumes and play. Can Gabby and her bff Becca find out the person who is behind these incidents, or is it truly a ghost like the rumors say?
This book was lots of fun and gives you a glimpse inside of Gabby's life when she had both parents living. I love that she has her same quirky sense of humor. A must for anyone who loves the Squeaky Clean Mysteries!
May 29, 2016
I have LOVED reading all the Squeaky Clean Mysteries, so I was anxious to read about young Gabby and how she got started solving mysteries. True, it is a tween mystery, great for 4th - 6th graders maybe, but it was still fun to get some insight into Gabby's childhood. I would highly recommend it to young girls, especially if they enjoy mysteries. When I was young, I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on! Unfortunately, many of the books out there today do not have good role models or moral lessons included in them, so I am glad Christy is also writing for young people.
December 28, 2016
This book tells some of the background to Gabby's life and how it was like for her in middle school. We get to see how events in her teenage years helped to shape her future. It was great seeing characteristics of older Gabby in her middle school self and knowing how it would affect her in the future. Even if you haven't read any of the Squeaky Clean Mysteries (following Gabby's life as she is older), this is still a good read. Adults who enjoy the series will enjoy it as well as teens.
March 10, 2015
This is a cute little book for 10-12 year old girls. This is book 1 of the Gabby St. Claire diaries.
Gabby is twelve years old, in the 7th grade, and dealing with life in middle school. She gets a small part in the school play, but someone is trying to sabotage the play. And Gabby is being blamed. She knows she must expose the real culprit before the play is ruined and people are hurt.
Gabby is twelve years old, in the 7th grade, and dealing with life in middle school. She gets a small part in the school play, but someone is trying to sabotage the play. And Gabby is being blamed. She knows she must expose the real culprit before the play is ruined and people are hurt.
November 11, 2015
I love reading the mysteries about the adult Gabby St. Clair. This story is about middle-school age Gabby. someone is sabotaging the school play. Gabby seems always to be around when things happen and it looks like she is guilty. She sets out to find the culprit.
I can't wait to read more!
I can't wait to read more!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews