Literary Genres: Mystery Seymour Sleuth is the world's greatest detective. His
latest case--The Missing Stone Chicken. This petrified foul belonged
to the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, King Karfu. Seymour keeps a casebook that
captures every step. He interviews suspects, examines clues and puts thepieces
together to find out whodunit? However, there is a secret code as well as
King Karfu's LostTreasure that wait to be discovered by sharp-eyed readers.
Author/illustrator Cushman's latest picture book about this intrepid detective
exemplifies cleverness, entertainment and imagination all rolled into one.
Patricia Fittante; Children's Librarian, Escanaba
Public Library.
24 years of experience as a school and public librariain
Hale, Bruce. THE BIG NAP. New York: Harcourt, Inc. 2001.
119p.
0-15-202521-9; hb., $14.00 Gr. 3-5
FIC
Chet Grecko, Private Eye. That's the name.
Wanna see the badge? Lucky for the students at Emerson Hicky
Elementary that Detective Chet is on the job or all the young folk might be
turned into zombies. With the help of Natalie, a bird, and Waldo, an
unidentified furball; Chet meets and defeats a rascally weasel. Hale
is heavy into puns and double meanings which may go over the heads of some
of the young readers, but the amusing animals, so aptly created in black-and-white
drawings and scattered throughout, will amuse and enthuse. The big question
is--Can Chet save the school? Or will he and Natalie be the next in
line at the chalkboard? Sheesh.....(quote Chet)...you'll never know
unless you read it!
Patricia J. Fittante; Children’s Librarian, Escanaba
Public Library, Escanaba, MI
25 years of experience working with children in school
and public libraries
Holm, Jennifer L. THE CREEK. New York: HarperCollins
Publisher, Inc., 2003. 232p.
0-06-000133-X hb. $15.99 Gr. 7-10
YA
Holm, Author of several historical novels about girls
entering puberty, tries her hand with a contemporary novel, adding trappings
of a creepy thriller that pushes the story well beyond the child-plays-detective
theme found in most youth mysteries. Penny, almost 13, is content to
spend her summer handing out with the boys on her block. But this year,
their games are charged by rumors about Caleb Devlin, a legend on Mockingbird
Lane, who terrorized an entire town before he got sent away. When pets
begin vanishing in the neighborhood, it seems obvious to most residents that
Caleb is behind the disappearances. Penny's dreams are haunted by visions
of this young man who both fascinates and repels her. As she and her
friends investigate, they have numerous close scrapes that go beyond the
safety of a juvenile mystery novel. All the threads do not come together
to weave a believable tale. Penny's sexual awakening and her reaction
to death leave readers with doubts about her character development in the
story It left this reader unsettled.
Lynette Suckow, Peter White Public Library, Marquette,
MI
Hornik, Laurie Miller. THE SECRETS OF MS. SNICKLE'S CLASS. Illus.
by Debbie Tilley.
New York: Clarion, 2001. 135p. 0-628-03435-8;
hb., $15.00 Gr. 3-5 FIC
What kid, in lieu of tests in a classroom, wouldn't
like to substitute them with pizza-topping spelling contests and class trips
to find runaway desks? Most would. In Ms. Snickle's bizarre
classroom, this off-the-wall teacher has a unique way of teaching; no tests
or homework. However, she does insist on one principle. "No
telling secrets!" Ms. Snickles recognizes the importance of
secrets and keeping them, and announces "Secrets are precious and sometimes
a bit fragile, so be careful!" The biggest secret of all is that of
Ms. Snickle. After school is dismissed, she pushes a button and the
schoolroom turns into her apartment, complete with her cat, Lacey.
The class busybody, makes it her mission in life to learn the secrets of
all her classmates and tells all! However; when she learns Ms. Snickles'
secret, she soon discovers that secrets are definitely made to be kept.
This wildly imaginative and humorous novel, absurd though it may be, will
bring snorts and Snickles!
Patricia J. Fittante; Children’s Librarian, Escanaba
Public Library, Escanaba, MI
25 years of experience working with children in school
and public libraries
Labatt, Mary A. A WEEKEND AT THE GRAND HOTEL. Tonawanda,
NY:
Kids Can Press, 2001. 104p. 1-555074-883-1;
hb., $12.95 Gr. 2-5 FIC
Although Samantha, a sheepdog, looks like a walking
mop, she has the aspirations of being the best dog detective this side of
the Mason Dixon Line. The only thing holding the cantankerous canine
back is her unsatisfying menu of dog food. As the reader soon discovers,
Sam much prefers apple pie with shrimp, whipped cream on a bacon burger,
or a butter tart topped with sardines. Sniffing is her game so when
her dog-sitter/next door neighbor, Jennie cons her parents into taking Sam
along on a vacation to the Grand Hotel the fun begins. The suitcases
were not even unpacked yet when Sam begins her snooping which in turn plants
the protagonist right in the middle of an exciting mystery. Sam is
able to communicate with Jennie by putting thoughts into her head, so mystery
buffs who have always wanted to talk to the animals will love the craziness
of Sam as well as the surprise ending. Arf. Woof. Yip! (In dog
language that means “You must read it to find out!”
Pat Fittante; Children’s Librarian, Escanaba Public
Library, Escanaba, MI
27 years of experience as a teacher and librarian
Levy, Elizabeth. A MAMMOTH MIX-UP. Illus. by George
Ulrich. Brian and Pea Brain
Mystery Series. New York: Harper, 1995.
87p. $12.95 0-06-024814-9; hb., $12.95
0-06-0248157; lib.bd., $12.80 0-06-442043-4;
pb., $3.95 94-47960 Gr. 2-4
FIC
This mystery with a villain and a brother-sister
relationship that enhance the plot is the third in the series. The
children discredit a false scientist as they learn about the wooly mammoth
for their science fair entry at the science museum. Black and white
sketches add to the action. Recommended for ages 7-10. Pair this
book with Aliki's WILD AND WOOLY MAMMOTHS. (HarperCollins, 1995).
Virginia Foreman, retired teacher, lifelong
reader of books about paleontology
25 years experience as a reading and English
teacher
Saunders, Susan. THE CHILLING TALE OF CRESCENT POND, Book
8. Illus. by
Jane Manning. Black Cat Club series. New
York: Harper Trophy, 1998. 81p.
0-06-442072-8, pb., $3.95. Demco/Turtleback Books,
0606132058. Gr. 1-5 FIC
In this series, a group of friends have formed the Black
Cat Club to find the ghosts that seem to be plentiful in their town.
Similar to the popular Goosebumps series, pre-teens should find these stories
readable and exciting. In this chapter book a mysterious force is haunting
Crescent Pond which has recently been opened for skating 100 years after
Alice Foster fell through the ice and subsequently died from pneumonia.
Alice's ghost, pesky but helpful, takes several of the club members back
in time to discover who is haunting the pond and why. Will they be able
to prevent a looming disaster in the present?
Carolyn Anderson, retired elementary teacher;
Member of the L’Anse (MI) Public Library Advisory
Board
Vande Velde, Vivian. THERE’S A DEAD PERSON FOLLOWING MY
SISTER AROUND.
San Diego, Harcourt Brace, 1999. 143p.
0-15-202100-0; hb., $16.00. Gr. 5-9
FIC
Eleven-year-old Ted suddenly finds that the house he’s
living in is haunted. He finds that his little sister Vicki has an
invisible friend, Marella, who is afraid of a bad lady who comes through
the walls of her bedroom. Ted starts to have nightmares about going
through a house with corpses in each room and finally finding himself in
a room filling with water. Ted, of course, starts to research the history
of the house that was built before the Civil War. This is a fun read
with good character development, lots of twists and turns, great humor and
an intriguing ending. It’s about family relationships, the Underground
Railroad, courage and even revenge. This is a good addition to any
middle school library.
Barbara Berry; retired school library-media specialist
33 years experience working with students, especially
middle school students.
Warner, Gertrude Chandler. THE MYSTERY ON BLIZZARD MOUNTAIN.
Boxcar
children mysteries series Morton Grove, IL:
Albert Whitman, 2001. 121p. 0-8075-5493-6;
lib.bdg., $13.95 0-8075-5494-4;
pb., $3.95 2001-045672 Gr. 2-5 FIC
The Alden children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny,
climb Blizzard Mountain with Maris, a park ranger who is marking a new trail.
The elements of mystery on their trip are a dead battery, dirt dumped in
the cabin, Stagecoach George’s ghost, a hidden treasure, having someone steal
part of their food and Henry’s boots, disappearing tracks, and mysterious
noises. There are two suspects. Carola didn’t want anyone building
new trails and Bobcat who went back to get more food and didn’t return.
The culprit is someone connected to a recent museum break-in. Clues
are liberally sprinkled throughout, worn hiking boots, a piece of a purple
velvet cape, an undercover detective.
In the first chapter, readers learn that the children
are the original “Boxcar Children,” Book umber 86 tales place after they have
been found by their grandfather. The series was first written by Chandler
who died in 1979. The books aren’t great literature but provide beginning
readers with easy and fun practice.
Mary Ann Paulin; Director, Superiorland Preview Center,
Marquette, MI
32 years of experience as a school library/media
specialist
Yolen, Jane and Martin H. Greenberg, eds. THE HAUNTED HOUSE:
A COLLECTION
OF ORIGINAL STORIES. Illus. by Doron Ben-Ami.
New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
88p. 0-06-024468-2; lib.bdg., $14.89
0-06-024467-4; hb., $13.95 0-06-440646-6;
pb., $3.95 94-25136 Gr. 3-6
SC or FIC
If you have never believed in ghosts you might
want to visit the "Haunted House." It is a clever format that was instrumented
by Yolen and Greenberg when they created this collection of seven spooky
stories--each one written by a different author and each story taking place
in one of seven different rooms of a haunted house. You are invited
to come in to a house that creaks and groans---where there may be lights
that blink off and on, or where things disappear. It all starts in
the cellar and traverses the house room by room (each author writes a story
set in a different room) and it all ends in an attic Train Room. Ben-Ami
adds to the fun with realistic shadowy illustrations that compliment the
text. The chapters are short---but long enough to keep the shivers
coming. These two authors have assembled a creepy collection of stories
that will leave the reader wondering just what that noise really was---in
the next room!
Patricia Fittantte, Children's Librarian, Escanaba
Public Library
23 years of experience as a teacher and librarian