Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons

My 7 year-old was a bit apprehensive about giving this title a try. But once he got into it, with its impressive narration and sound effects, he couldn’t get enough. Once it was over, after listening to it on our daily commute over the span of a week or so, he wanted to listen again. “Viva Durant” is well worth the purchase.

A children's rhyme inspires Viva to try her hand at solving a mystery. Surely the man in the article didn't just make up his story. From the French Quarter to Algiers, Viva follows clues to the truth. A fun listen that was well-narrated.

I know this is actually a book for younger readers, but the description sounded intriguing and fun. It turned out to be very entertaining and fun. The story keeps you interested and the characters of well written. The narration was excellent and the added sound effects and music added a wonderful flare to the listening experience. When I finished it, I immediately downloaded the next two books in the series!

Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons is a great cozy mystery for kids eight and up. I love middle grade books and write middle grade books because I think I never really grew up myself! The main character is fourteen years old, but the story feels more middle grade than young adult. It's set in New Orleans (which I love) and has a lot of jazz in it. Very fun and cool!

If you’ve been to New Orleans or if you’re from or visited other parts of Louisiana, the accents of the characters in this audio book will melt your heart. The mysteries were really cute and not obvious at all. Left us intrigued. My daughter has listened to both books a million times because she finds them soothing now. Wish the author wrote more books.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery book. I loved hearing the characters' New Orleans accents, the colorful descriptions of the town and the pace of the book. I'm an adult, but I just wanted to listen to a fun story to escape real life for a moment. I hope the author writes an entire series about Viva. I think there are a lot more to subjects to expand on: her grandfather's shed, her friendship with Reese, playing the sax, voodoo and exploring the city. It was refreshing to read a lighthearted story with African American characters.

Please, Ms. St. Armant, write more kids' stories.I think this is only available as an audio book, and that is the only way I imagine it working, as Vera sings through some of the clues. I will be looking for other kids' stories by this writer, though. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It also fills a much needed gap on the juvenile fiction shelves, well written, engaging story featuring engaging characters who happen also to be black characters who just live their lives and do their thing without dragging in social issues by the ears and beating kids about the head and shoulders with them.This particularly story is for kids in the Nancy Drew, Three Cousins Detectives, Alfred Hitcock's Three Investigators stories. Readers from about grades 4 or 5 to middle school would enjoy it (I'm a grown granny and I enjoyed it).There are no murders or dark, scary elements.Vera is 14, and a good kid, a successful student who enjoys playing her saxophone, and loves jazz. She lives in California but is spending the summer with her grandmother in New Orleans. She expects to be bored because, although she loves her grandmother, Grandma isn't exactly a 'fun' sort of person. Vera stumbles across a historical mystery she decides to unravel. As she follows the clues she also learns a few interesting things about New Orleans history and research, but none of this educational stuff is heavy handed or obviously included as HERE IS A LESSON LEARN SOMETHING. I wouldn't say this is a book to learn about New Orleans, but it might be a book that will get a kid curious to learn more about it, or a kid might just enjoy the tale, which is fine. The 'educational bits' are light and just part of the normal progress of Vera's research and attempts to track down the answers to her mystery. She also gets to know her grandmother a little better and is able to laugh at her quirks while still appreciating her for who she really is.It's a kids' mystery, so some of the clues are a bit improbable, too easy to solve, resolutions to a couple difficult predicaments she gets into come a little easier than seems realistic, but these are minor quibbles and would apply to pretty much any mystery involving kid detectives.It's one of the best in the juvenile mystery genre category, IMO. Better by far than any of the Nancy Drews. If your kid likes mysteries, you want them to listen to this one.Very fun, engaging, light reading.

I enjoyed listening to this story on my Kindle. A young girl is sent unwillingly to spend the summer with her grandmother. She discovers a few clues to a riddle and finds she has a talent for solving mysteries. I recommend this stort and think my 8 year old granddaughter would in joy it also.