Morning everyone!

Welcome to the Blog Tour for The Real McCoys by Matthew Swanson & Robbi Behr. I am delighted to participate in this tour, and even was able to review the book!

For today’s post I first got my review, followed by book/author information, and lastly I got some other fun things!

Review!!I received this book to review as I am participating in the Blog Tour for this book!

One girl, an amateur detective, a missing mascot (Eddie), and a few suspects. Who stole Eddie? Will Moxie find out? And will she find a new best friend as her old friend moved away? And who will win the Eddie Award or the Owl Award?

Well, this book started off really well, but as the book continued I got more and more frustrated with our MC, Moxie. This girl is supposedly a detective, she is supposedly solving cases, well I can tell you that I think it wasn’t her doing the work or the deduction, but her best friend who moved. She kept jumping to conclusions, seeing x evidence and immediately conclude that it was that person even though there was barely any other shred of evidence. Not to mention that she wouldn’t care if someone told her differently because this girl was sooooo smart, according to herself. Yep. She thought she was all that, and that was a pattern throughout the entire book. She never even looked around her, oh no, she just thought she was so fantastic. Girl, please….

Sure, she was sweet, she cared about her brother (even though they had the typical brother/sister stuff going on), she tried her best at school, and I was happy that she wasn’t gung-ho about that silly Golden Owl Award, though sadly she was gung-ho about that Eddie Award. 😛
I also did like how she was searching for a new friends, and what questions she asked. Very important ones even! Glad she didn’t ask me, as I love soup, love marshmallows, don’t really like avocado, and slugs are cute to look at but that is it. I would fail the test instantly!

In the end, hilariously, it wasn’t even our MC who figured out the whodunnit, it was the brother. Haha. 😛 Yep, that really had me rolling around. And I didn’t even know who the whodunnit was thanks to the MC who kept going back and forth between suspects and eventually stuck like glue to someone. There weren’t that many moments for me to figure out who was the actual whodunnit. But I didn’t mind it that much. It does get a bit boring if one can instantly know the whodunnit.

I loved reading about the school, the teachers (and the fact they weren’t all as terrible as most kids saw them), and I loved that they have a mascot that is (supposed) to inspire children. And that the mascot is a cute owl!

The way the story was told, with illustrations all over the pages was perfect! The illustrations was at times telling the story or the story was inside the illustrations. It was just wonderful. It was definitely my favourite part of the whole book, and also a big reason why I kept reading even when I wanted to throttle the MC. 😛 I also so love the styles used, at times quite simple, at other times with more details. I loved how the characters were drawn (especially the more evil teachers).

I also liked the Annabelle Adams books that were featured throughout the book. I wouldn’t mind reading these in real life, they sound right up my alley. I was also happily surprised when, at the end of the book, we got a “Meet Annabelle Adams” part! Squee! Cats! Mystery! cheers

All in all, I did have fun reading it, before I knew it the story was over. I would still recommend this one, and if there is ever another book about the McCoys I may just read it. 🙂

Her name’s Moxie. Moxie McCoy.

Bold, opinionated, and haplessly self-confident, the world’s greatest fourth-grade detective faces her biggest challenge! When someone kidnaps beloved school mascot Eddie the Owl, Moxie is on the case—but she’s forced to fly solo now that her best friend (and crime-solving partner) has moved away.

Moxie must interview her classmates—both as potential new best friends and as possible suspects. She finds clues and points fingers but can’t save the owl on her own. Enter Moxie’s little brother, Milton. Quiet, cautious, and boring as a butter knife, he’s a good listener.

Can the Real McCoys form an unlikely alliance and solve the crime of the century?

Bursting with interactive illustrations on every page, Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr’s The Real McCoys delivers clever storytelling, laugh-out-loud humor, and heartwarming insight. This is the first book in a series.

Buy this book here: Amazon|||| Book Depository

About the authors:

Combining Robbi’s illustrations and Matthew’s words, we run two small presses— Idiots’Books (illustrated picture books for adults) and Bobbledy Books, (a picture book and music club for kids). Together, we have published more than 60 volumes, including titles with Macmillan, Chronicle Books and LB Kids. We speak, teach, and run workshops on collaboration and creative entrepreneurship (with appearances at TEDx, Mom 2.0,Alt Summit, and ICON7). And we blog about our ongoing adventures in creative mishap.

About the illustrator:

ROBBI BEHR is an illustrator/print maker/commercial salmon fisherwoman who earned a BA from Williams College and an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. When she is not drawing stuff or eating ice cream or watching sappy late-90s chick movies, she is, in all likelihood, fast asleep.

Find her here:     

About the author:

MATTHEW SWANSON is a writer/art director/blues harmonica player who has so far failed in every attempt to be swashbuckling. He managed to secure a BA from Williams but was summarily rejected from every MFA program to which he applied—thus emboldening Robbi to remind him almost daily that he is a master of nothing.

Find him here:      

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