Max & Maddy and the Bursting Balloons Mystery

Max & Maddy #2

by Alexander McCall Smith, Macky Pamintuan (Illustrator)

When international detectives, Max and Maddy Twist, tackle the bursting balloons mystery, they're on a tough case. Someone wants to sabotage a hot air balloon race across America, and they'll stop at nothing - bursting balloons, stealing sandbags, breaking baskets, and guzzling gas!

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Audiobook

80 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1997

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Reviews

[Westminster Library]

I was delighted to expand my knowledge of this author by reading a book in this children’s series. I have been delighted with the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, also, written by this author. A fun adventure with our two young detectives involving air balloons. The author’s expert character development made this a great read.

Find Max & Maddy and the Bursting Balloons Mystery at the Westminster Public Library.

[Santosh Thapa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jestha 3, 2078, Monday

Max & Maddy and the Bursting Balloons Mystery - Alexander McCall Smith, Macky Pamintuan (Illustrator) (1997)
(Max & Maddy #2)

Genres: Children’s Literature/ Mystery
Pages: 80
Rating: 5.5/10

Themes: Mystery/ Ingenuity

Opener:
“It had been a hot hot day, and this meant that Max and Maddy's parents had been very busy.”

Summary:
When a famous millionaire asks young detectives Max and Maddy Twist to investigate who is sabotaging an international balloon race for charity, they find themselves competing against world-renowned balloonists—and one old nemesis.

Verdict:
I done goofed up. This is supposed to be the second book in the series and I started with this one. So you could understand my confusion when the nemesis is revealed, a Professor Claude Sardine—I was like Professor who? Yet this book does have good challenging vocabulary (nemesis, sabotage, saboteur) for its target audience and a decent lighthearted story.

[kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a children’s book probably for kindergarten to maybe second grade. It is a chapter book. I listened to it on audiobook. It took an hour to listen to it. I love the author and his number one ladies detective agency books as well as the Isabel Dalhousie books too. Oh, I can’t forget the 44 Scotland St. books too!

I enjoy his style of writing. It’s easy-going with enough details. The people are always interesting. In this book, there’s a brother and sister who go on a hot air balloon race with a good friend of theirs and of course there’s a bad guy. They outsmart him. There’s no violence. It sure is an interesting idea of something to talk about with children riding in a hot air balloon!

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second and last in the series about the two young detectives and their battle with Professor Sardine, the arch criminal is again humorous, and certainly does not end as such but there were no more books written, perhaps the success of the ladies detectives, coming up as the next book meant no more were written, or they did not sell, but in any case it was quite entertaining, although not as much as the first one.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reading for kids.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Max and Maddy solve mysteries, it's something that they learned from their parents. In this adventure Mr. Hellium needs help finding out who is trying to stop his ballooning race. They travel across the country to solve the case.

Why I started it: I have enjoyed Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and I wanted to read his children's books.

Why I finished it: This books is for middle elementary school students and was a breeze to read through. Simple and direct, it was a little amazing the Max & Maddy got their parents permission to travel in a balloon race from New York to Vancouver with little more than an hour's notice.

[Dolly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Max & Maddy series by Alexander McCall Smith. There are only two books in the series, so I'm guessing this series just didn't take off. I can kinda see why.

The story is very odd and implausible and despite the action and drama, the plot falls flat. The book begins ater the first story and still alludes to the conflict and history that precedes this tale, but with very little details. That story begs to be told, but from what I can tell, it's not going to be.

Overall, the story was okay, but not great. The narrative is confusing in parts and I had to go back to see if we missed something. It was a fairly quick read, and I'm glad we're finished with this series. Meh.

[Jo Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book in the Max and Maddy Mystery series by Alexander McCall-Smith. My kids and I found it to be appropriately suspenseful and laugh-out-loud funny. It is refreshing to find a modern book for children that is well written. I sure hope the author has plans for continuing the series.

Max and Maddy are employed to find out who is sabotaging a cross-country hot air balloon race with a million dollar purse. Might it be their arch-enemy, Professor Claude Sardine, the melodrama-esque villian from the previous enstallment in this series?

Of particular humor for us was the charity that the proceeds of the race will benefit - Home for Children Whose Parents Have Disappeared in Balloons.

Good vocabulary words for early graders, such as, sabotage and saboteur.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where have I been! I never realized how prolific Alexander McCall Smith is(author of The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, among many other things!). The Max and Maddy mystery adventures are delightful. You might want to check these out for Sophie, Kellie. They are great first chapterbooks. I only wish I'd discovered them in the days when Christian was reading the Magic Treehouse. The audio version with McCall Smith narrating is just delightful. I'm going to get these for my nieces.

[Tanja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of the Max & Maddy series for beginning chapter book readers and mystery fans. The short chapters, accompanied by illustrations, will appeal to developing readers who are yet gaining confidence and stamina in reading chapter books. (What bothered me though - and this is most probably a pet peeve of mine - is the reference to "Africa" as if it was a country, when the balloonist in the story is mentioned as having traveled from "China to Africa".)

[Bilal Berat · Rating 4 out of 5]

çok güzel bir kitap çok hızlı bitirdim. Gizemliydi sonuna kadar merakla okudum

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 of a new Alexander McCall series appropriate for a 2nd grade chapter book although some of the language might be more appropriate for late 2nd grade reading. Max and Maddy are sibling detectives who are pitted against that archvillain, Professor Claude Sardine. Interesting plot and some funny moments.

[Abigail · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really quite dull. Though narrated by the author in his delicious British accent, it was so undelightful and uninspired I was fighting to stay awake and keep the car on the road (it put all 3 of my kids to sleep too- I mean they literally slept through the entire book starting from chapter one- so if you're looking for a sleeping aid, give this a whirl).

[Heather Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better early chapter books we've read lately - we listened to it, actually, and the audio book was quite good. This age reader is a new world for me, so I don't have much to compare it to, yet...

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please get more Max & Maddie mysteries. What is an impostor?

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 2 out of 5]

194 - 2012