Impulsive acts, severely tested friendships, and possible witchy cursesall set against the customary backdrop of domestic chaospresage big changes for Binny and her family.The wad of cash that Binny spots in an ATM seems at first like a wish come true, considering that her mother's birthday is coming up and surely the bill for contractor Pete's repairs to their storm-wracked cottage (Binny in Secret, 2015) will soon be coming due. Unfortunately, joy soon gives way to gnawing guiltbut by the time she resolves to return the money, it's nowhere to be found. Along with wrecking both house and (temporarily) a friendship with frantic searches and queries, Binny becomes increasingly convinced that eerily attentive neighbor Miss Piper is both a witch and the cause of her misfortunes. All the while little brother James and big sister Clem are suffering through crises of their own, and there is something going on between their widowed mother and Pete. Then there's Binny's erstwhile adversary, Gareth, in for a visit and to deliver the tale's best line: "at school I tell people you're my girlfriend. Stops them from asking if I'm gay. Do you mind?" With her usual skill and superb comic timing the author brings her all-white cast's brangles to happy, even joyous resolutions. Ross' scribbly grayscale illustrations add suitably frantic notes. Fans will be delighted by these further misadventures of the rumpled but lovingand lovableCornwallis clan. (Fiction. 11-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr 5-8-This latest addition to the series revolves around cash that Binny finds next to an ATM in town. Binny and her family live in a decrepit beach cottage in Cornwall, England, and everyone worries about money. So when Binny's windfall disappears from the cottage, she and her friend Gareth consider everyone a suspect. Was the thief her brother James or his friend Dill? What about her sister Clem, who sells her possessions for music lessons? Binny would like to exclude her mother and their handyman Pete from her investigation, but everyone acts suspiciously. Most ominous of all, their nosy neighbor Miss Piper aims cryptic comments at Binny, making her squirm with guilt. Most of the trouble unwinds by the end, although Binny's whimsical logic ensures future escapades. This is a comedic mix of contemporary "worry story" and a clue-based mystery. Both elements are intriguing, but McKay doesn't manage to mesh them together seamlessly. Binny is a writer, a detective, and a grieving daughter, but her identities don't fully coalesce. Binny is in middle school, but she acts much younger, while Ross's cover and interior pen-and-ink wash drawings feel solidly middle grade. It might take some readers' advisory to match Binny with the right audience. The protagonist's awkward missteps swell with unsophisticated exuberance; this novel might pair well with Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks or another nouveau classic title. VERDICT A charming British contemporary tale whose plot could be tighter. Purchase where the previous installments have an established following.-Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

McKay continues to display her extraordinary gifts (for language, nuance, humor; for capturing human nature and family dynamics) in this third book about the endearingly imperfect Binny Cornwallis (Binny for Short, rev. 1/14; Binny in Secret, rev. 7/15). Ever since her father died, bankrupt, Binny and her family thought about money so often and with such anxiety that it was like an extra nightmare person living in the house. When she finds a stack of twenty-pound notes in an ATM and impulsively pockets the lot, it seems like an answer to a prayer (Oh, money! Oh lovely, needed, unlooked-for money!), but instead its the start of a miserable seven days. All weekend, increasingly guilt-ridden, she moves the money around the house, hiding it in a series of unlikely places; by Monday morning she cant wait to give it back, whatever the consequences. But where has she put it? Desperate, she ransacks the house, to no avail. Did someone steal her stolen cash, as best of enemies, most loyal of friends Gareth suggests? If so, the suspect list would include everyone close to her. The plot moves at a whirlwind pace but folds in big ideas to mull over: who we are, at heart, and whats important and not important; the elasticity of true friendships (including--whoa!--the possibility of romantic love); and the stress and vulnerability of never having enough money. As the book comes to its clever and satisfying conclusion, we realize that weve also been watching Binny become a writer before our eyes. Tomorrow she would have to go to the bank. Down and down and down fell Binnys courage, until an idea reached out like a friendly hand to save her. Tomorrow, when its all over, I will write it down. martha v. parravano (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.