It is the Halloween season...are you looking for a good mystery? Check out this book list...
1) "I So Don't Do Mysteries" by Barrie Summy
In life, Sherry and her work-obsessed cop mother weren’t much of a team, but when Sherry’s deceased mom returns as a spirit several months after her death, Sherry can’t deny her request to join forces in her quest to move on in the spirit world. It seems she’s in danger of flunking out of the Academy of Spirits, a ghostly institution that trains the departed to watch over the living. Despite being named after Sherlock Holmes, Sherry feels more comfortable hanging out at the mall and generally shies away from mysteries and challenges, but as she gets drawn into her mother’s task, Sherry finds that she can persevere under pressure, be incredibly resourceful and even shine in the limelight. The task involves saving a rhino at San Diego’s Wild Animal Park that is being targeted for assassination—Sherry’s mother’s final assignment in Prevent a Crime class. Although so aggressively fluffy and self-consciously chick-lit–y that the narrative at times borders on hokey, Sherry’s relationship with her mother’s spirit and her own quirky personality elevate this text by adding sincerity and warmth. (Fantasy. 10-13)
2) "The Composer Is Dead" by Lemony Snicket
In this characteristically unsettling invitation to Meet the Orchestra, the Composer leads off—dead or, as the author puts it, “decomposing” at his desk. Enter the Inspector—bearing a certain resemblance to the aforementioned scrivener (or at least his alter ego) in Ellis’s note-strewn, atmospherically wan watercolors—to grill each section of instruments and to pick apart their alibis. When the Inspector at last accuses the Conductor of doing the dirty deed, all of the former suspects step up to declare collective guilt: “All of us have butchered a composer at one time or another. But we also keep composers alive.” On the accompanying CD the melodramatic narrative is set to percussive music, which is reprised without the author’s reading on a second set of tracks. Conceived as an alternative to “Peter and the Wolf” but more a send-up than an informational visit to the pit, the episode isn’t likely to make much of a lasting impression on young audiences. (Picture book. 8-10, adult)
3) "Who Really Killed Cock Robin?" by Jean Craighead George
The web of life is revealed in all its intricacy when Tony Isidoro, an eighth grader who has inherited the zoology project interrupted by his older brother's call to army service, works with the local mill owner's 12-year-old daughter, and later with his brother's zoologist friend from the college, to solve a murder that has baffled and grieved the town of Saddleboro. The case opens when the town's mayor, an opportunist who won election on an ecology platform, makes political capital and daily radio announcements -- not to mention a gala Cock Robin Day picnic -- of a family of robins that nests in his hat. When the robins embarrass him by dying, the mayor asks Tony to discover the cause; later the boy's investigations prove equally embarrassing, but Tony determinedly tracks down the culprits. His sleuthing reveals that the mayor's lawn fertilizer has polluted the local marsh, that mother robin and her eggs were done in by a chemical called PCB, released by the mill owner under orders from NASA and combined with DDT from an up-wind orchard and a weed killer called 2, 4, 5-T, and finally that Cock Robin himself was killed, true to the old song, by the sparrow -- or at least by the chain set off when 10,000 Florida sparrows died from eating mercury-treated seeds, causing millions of blood-sucking parasitic flies to leave their bodies and attack the migrating robins. The tone of the whole adventure is buoyant, and the ecological complexities that constitute its theme are so neatly reflected in the plot that the scientific search for Cock Robin's murderer has an edge-of-the-chair excitement.
4) "The Dark Stairs" by Betsy Byars
A versatile standby (1971 Newbery) brings her usual brisk aplomb to a projected series about a self-reliant early teen whose first adventure is closer in spirit, despite her name, to the Nancy Drews recalled by its jacket than to the exploits of Indiana Jones. Neither of Herculeah Jones's divorced parents -- Dad's a cop, Mom's a PI -- welcomes her participation in discovering the role played by the hulking "Moloch" in an apparent death ten years ago in the empty old mansion known as Dead Oaks. Still, the girl and her sidekick, Meat, explore the house, where someone traps Herculeah; fortunately, she's able to burst open the nailed-shut door. Finding out that the Moloch is Mrs. Jones's client, they eavesdrop on a tape of an interview between the two and learn his identity. In the end, Herculeah not only deduces what happened years ago but locates a missing body by inadvertently tumbling down a secret stairway. For sophisticated readers, it might have been more fun if Byars had chosen to parody the genre; instead, she plays it almost straight, although there are occasional touches of wit in the pert dialogue and descriptions. Meanwhile, she establishes characters with a sure touch and provides enough spooky atmosphere to bring readers back for more. A promising start for a series that could easily become a popular alternative to massmarket mysteries. (Fiction. 8-12)
5) "Malcolm At Midnight" by W.H. Beck
Malcolm is a small rat who is often mistaken for a mouse, which is both a blessing and a curse.
As a fifth-grade “mouse” pet he has a comfortable cage, good food and a classroom full of interesting kids, and, amazingly, Malcolm discovers he can read! During nighttime explorations, he becomes part of the Midnight Academy, a group of varied creatures who are also classroom pets. They speak and have several sophisticated means of communication utilizing school bells, secret codes and even cellphones and computers. But there is a prowling, vicious rogue cat, and there have been thefts, disappearances and cases of vandalism. Malcolm is at the center of it all, always under suspicion but determined to use his rat abilities to act honorably. What follows is a breathless, exciting tale of adventure, danger, betrayal, twists and surprises. Beck unfolds the events in the form of an anonymous note to teacher Mr. Binney detailing Malcolm’s journey, with clever and sometimes hilarious asides in the form of footnotes. Meditations on the nature of power and friendship are subtly and seamlessly woven within the plot. Lies’ meticulously detailed illustrations in endless varieties of gray depict the highlights of Malcolm’s adventures and capture each creature’s individuality. Malcolm’s mouse/rat appearance underscores the confusion as to his real species.
A rip-roaring tale; even rodent haters will have to like Malcolm. (Animal fantasy. 8-12)
6) "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead
When Miranda’s best friend Sal gets punched by a strange kid, he abruptly stops speaking to her; then oddly prescient letters start arriving. They ask for her help, saying, “I'm coming to save your friend's life, and my own.” Readers will immediately connect with Miranda’s fluid first-person narration, a mix of Manhattan street smarts and pre-teen innocence. She addresses the letter writer and recounts the weird events of her sixth-grade year, hoping to make sense of the crumpled notes. Miranda’s crystalline picture of her urban landscape will resonate with city teens and intrigue suburban kids. As the letters keep coming, Miranda clings to her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time, and discusses time travel with Marcus, the nice, nerdy boy who punched Sal. Keen readers will notice Stead toying with time from the start, as Miranda writes in the present about past events that will determine her future. Some might guess at the baffling, heart-pounding conclusion, but when all the sidewalk characters from Miranda’s Manhattan world converge amid mind-blowing revelations and cunning details, teen readers will circle back to the beginning and say, “Wow...cool.” (Fiction. 12 & up)
7) "Three Times Lucky" by Sheila Turnage
What do you get when you combine
Because of Winn-Dixie’s heart with the mystery and action of
Holes? You get an engaging, spirit-lifting and unforgettable debut for young readers.
Turnage introduces readers to the homey yet exotic world of Tupelo Landing, N.C., well-populated with one-of-a-kind characters. A stranger with justice on his mind has just arrived in town, and Hurricane Amy is on its way. Rising sixth-grader Mo LoBeau leads the cast through a series of clues as the whole town tries to figure out who among them might be a murderer. The novel’s opening lines reveal the unflappable Mo LoBeau as a latter-day Philip Marlowe: “Trouble cruised into Tupelo Landing at exactly seven minutes past noon on Wednesday, the third of June, flashing a gold badge and driving a Chevy Impala the color of dirt.” This is the first of many genius turns of phrases. Pairing the heartbreaking sadness of children who don’t get their fair share from parents with the hilarity of small-town life, Turnage achieves a wickedly awesome tale of an 11-year-old girl with more spirit and gumption than folks twice her age. Mo LoBeau is destined to become a standout character in children’s fiction.
Readers may find they never want to leave Tupelo Landing. (Mystery. 10-14)
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