I got this book for my daughter to read and she and I read “Jada Jackson International Girl Detective” together daily. She loves reading and I must say she enjoyed Jada, Carlos and Justin amateur sleuthing. This is an exciting adventure that this trio is on to solve the mystery ancient scepter. The places that were visited were very exciting to see thru the eyes of the trio.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and I leaving my review voluntarily.

I liked the premise of the book. And I thought that the occasional scattering of photos depicting landmarks and art were a nice addition to the book.

I did have issues with the writing style though. Many of the sentences were long and wordy. And far too many of the paragraphs were overly-large blocks of text. It felt rather formulaic and never captured my interest. My mind wandered throughout.

I think that Middle Grade readers will find the over-long sentences and paragraphs a bit trying. But perhaps the plot will carry them through.

This is a really well-constructed crime story. Jada Johnson is dashing around Rome, finding clues in all the famous tourist sites. Jada is a likeable protagonist, and her brother is a typical brother. Her mild romance with the grandson of her father’s business associate (keep up there) is suitably holiday friendship for fourteen-year-olds.

It’s also modern, which is great for today’s middle grade and above readers, whilst still giving them all the historical lessons the author wants to get across.

In some ways, it disappointed me. I found the writing old-fashioned, with long sentences. It was definitely third person omniscient, which meant some of the history lessons even I glossed over. The tendency to tell the reader everything reminded me of the Hobbit. That’s another great story with an old-fashioned ‘talk to the children’ style. It would put me off continuing with the series, assuming there will be more. Despite the ‘another detective adventure’ mentioned in the text, this does appear to be a stand alone at present.

But I’m sure many middle grade American children will enjoy this ‘black kid taking on the rich and famous in Rome’ story. After all, it’s something many of us would aspire to!

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a fan of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden growing up, I enjoyed reading about a young detective for the next generation! Jada is competent, interesting, and smart, and her antics are fun to read. I loved the author's choice to include so much history, information about the city of Rome, and pictures of pertinent art and artifacts. Recommend for all middle grade girls.

We enjoyed this book , it is an exciting adventure with a good amount of history and geographical information about Rome. Not quite as good as visiting Rome but almost as good. Lots of exciting episodes and evoked many questions about the city and its history. Would make a great story when studying the Romans.

Jet set travel to Italy - check
A mystery (who stole the ancient scepter of Emperor Maxentius?) to be solved - check
Action and adventure in and around Rome's sites and monuments - check
Russian bad guys - check
A budding romance between our heroine and her new Italian friend - check

This book checks all the boxes of a fun and entertaining middle grade mystery. Exciting whodunnit!

A cute, fun, educational spy novel for kids! Very Nancy Drew meets Magic Treehouse kind of feeling as Jada goes on the adventure to track down the missing scepter. Plenty of excitement and intrigue for a kids mystery novel, while throwing in some educational tidbits. Highly recommend for older kids who need a bit more of a reading challenge, as some of their first longer chapter books.

This was a middle-grade adventure novel, reminiscent of the Magic Tree House books. The history throughout the book is a great way for kids to learn new knowledge. I could see students wanting to read this book after learning about Rome, similar to how Jada is excited to go to Rome because she just learned about it in school. I would recommend this book be in a classroom library because it is engaging and educators can do activities centered around the text, history, or riddles.

Reading middle-grade fiction has become a secret joy. The subtitle, The Case of the Emperor's Scepter, caught my attention.

As I read the synopsis and studied the cover, I knew this was a must-read.

I felt a twinge of excitement, as well as a healthy sense of curiosity as to how the character would be portrayed and developed.

I enjoyed the literary tour of Rome through the eyes of Jada, her brother Justin, and Carlos. The pictures of Rome were accurate and added to the story.
Perfect for middle-grade (and adult) readers who are interested in international travel and enjoy light-hearted mysteries with minimal suspense. I highly recommend this book!

Overall, I enjoyed this excellent, middle-grade page-turner.

For its age group, this is a very good book. Well written, easy to read and packed with action. It's also packed with educational points, as such a book should be. The only weakness is the plot, but it, of course, makes the basis for all the action.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This is a fast paced middle grade mystery. This is a enjoyable read. It makes you want to visit Rome. It will keep you engaged and entertained. I absolutely enjoyed this middle grade book. This book is in stores for $12.99 (USD).

I quite enjoyed reading Jada Johnson, International Girl Detective. This is the first book I have read by this author and was intrigued to see if Jada along with the rest of the characters would solve the mystery of the missing Scepter.

This book was different from what I have read in that it gave actual images and history lessons. However, since it was part of the story it did not seem boring or out of place.

The author made me feel I was there alongside experiencing everything Jada was experiencing. It did keep me guessing until the very end and I never figured out who the "amica" was until it was revealed. Great story, easy to follow with some quite interesting characters.