MYSTERY QUOTE #1

MYSTERY QUOTE #1

"No object is mysterious. 

The mystery is your

 eye."

Elizabeth Bowen

THE MYSTERY BEGAN ON PAGE 5:

THE MYSTERY BEGAN ON PAGE 5:

ALL THE LOVELY BAD ONES

Mary Downing Hahn

    "I wouldn't bother telling you," she said at last,"but you're sure to hear the guests talking about it. Fox Hill is mentioned in 'Haunted Inns of Vermont.'"

GAME: THE FAMILY HITCHCOCK GAME

THE FAMILY HITCHCOCK GAME

BOOK TRAILER: ENOLA HOLMES: THE CASE OF THE LEFT HANDED LADY

ENOLA HOLMES: THE CASE OF THE LEFT HANDED LADY

NANCY SPRINGER

YOU CAN WRITE A MYSTERY: LESSON NINE

LESSON NINE: THE END (PART TWO)

YOUR FINAL LESSON 

Face Personal Problem

In the beginning, your protagonist had a personal problem that was somewhat debilitating. This is the place where he faces and overcome his fear of this area of his life. Although Ron is a secondary character in the Harry Potter series, he has a huge fear of spiders. He is called upon to rise above this personal fear to help Harry escape from the giant spiders in the forest. He doesn’t lose his fear, but he does face it.

Confront Major Problem

No more delays, the time has arrived to confront the major challenge your protagonist set out to solve from the beginning. He needs to come up with a plan or strategy to make it happen. I wrote a book set in 1946 about a boy who lives with his grandparents in Hawaii. When his grandparents disappear and his best friend is arrested as a leper, he sets out to find his birth parents on a neighboring island. He has several adventures, learns some difficult truths, but never gives up his search for his parents. Not even when it means risking his own death.

Go All Out to Fight the Foe

The protagonist sets his plan into action. Everything is on the line and there’s no backing down. He’s willing to risk it all. Marvin, the dragon boy, has devised a plan to rescue his brother from the evil sorcerer’s dungeon. He’s enlisted the help of some other characters he’s met during the course of the story. Plus he will rely on the help of his dragon to fly him to the tower

GAME: MAZE

MAZE

HELP BOOKMAN ESCAPE THE MAZE

MAZE » free puzzles

NEW RELEASE: PRETTY LITTLE RUMORS

NEW RELEASE

PRETTY LITTLE RUMORS

     Sixteen-year-old Jen Wallace leads a double life at Springdale High. In secret she's the wildly popular advice columnist known as ASK AMY. But to the world she's just boring old Jen. Which wouldn't matter if Marc Adams didn't exist. Determined to make him notice her, she accepts a challenge to win a spot on the cheerleading squad. But how can she learn all the right moves when her ASK AMY identity is under attack? Someone is raiding the locked ASK AMY mailbox. They're blackmailing students who've written in for advice. 

     As Jen closes in on the blackmailer, she learns it’s a lot easier to dispense advice than to take it. Worse, Jen knows she's being set up for a fall. It's only a matter of time before her secret identity is exposed and her reputation is ruined. It will not only be goodbye to Mark, but to everyone and everything she cares about.

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BOOK REVIEW: SAFE HOUSE

SAFE HOUSE
Meg Cabot
Simon Pulse
2002

Available: Paperback Kindle, audible, library binding

   Sixteen-year-old Jess Mastriani was on vacation when a classmate disappeared and later was found murdered. Even though Jess had nothing to do with it, her classmates seem to think she could have saved the girl. Why? Because even though Jess denies it, she has a gift. She has psychic visions and can find people. This brands her as a little strange to her peers, which is one of the reasons she claims to have lost the ability. She wants to fit in. But when a second cheerleader disappears, she has to act even if it means her cover is blown.
    This was a nice blend of mystery, suspense and romance. Jess's voice is strong. High school girls will especially love the story and the 1-800-WHERE-R-YOU series. This is the third book.

Target audience: Grades 9-12

Mystery / Suspense: High

Kid appeal: Definate

BOOK REVIEW: SANTA BEAR'S FIRST CHRISTMAS

SANTA BEAR'S FIRST CHRISTMAS
Maggie Keen
Templar Company
1995

Available: Hardcopy

    Santa Bear has a problem. It's time to put names on the presents for Christmas, but the labels have disappeared. Where have they gone? The reader has to search the delightful illustrations to help Santa Bear solve the mystery. It's a cute, interactive book that is sure to delight the young and be enjoyable as well for the reader.

Target audience: 2-4 year olds

Mystery: cute

Kid appeal: good

KID'S MYSTERY MOVIE: Mandie and the Cherokee Treasure

KID'S MYSTERY MOVIE

 

CLICK TO CONNECT

MANDI 
and the Cherokee Treasure

Living on the 19th-century American frontier, Amanda Waters (Lexi Johnson) reunites with her beloved mother (Hayley Mills) as a teen, after many years of separation. Soon after, mother and daughter are drawn into an old family drama. In a saga that involves lost treasure and a map that could guide them to it, Mandie and mom set off on a fateful rail journey in this second film based on Lois Gladys Leppard's beloved series of children's books.

Starring:  Lexi Johnson, Hayley Mills

Directors: Joy Chapman, Owen Smith

BOOK REVIEW: SKELETON CREEK- THE RAVEN

SKELETON CREEK: THE RAVEN
Patrick Carman
Scholastic
2011

Available: hardcopy, Kindle, audible

   THE RAVEN is the 4th book in the SKELETON CREEK series.
   Ryan and his friend Sarah Fincher's story unfolds on the pages of Ryan's journal. The two friends are on a quest of sorts to discover who the Raven is. What he wants? Why he is after them?

GAME: FIND THE SUSPECT

CAN YOU FIND THE SUSPECT?  

NEXT GAME: A MAZE RACE

Find the Suspect » Puzzle games

AN EARLY ARAB MYSTERY

AN EARLY ARAB MYSTERY

      One of the Arabian Nights (ONE THOUSAND AND ONE
NIGHTS) stories told by Scheherazade to the King was called THE THREE APPLES.

This is probably one of the first detective stories ever written. A fisherman was out fishing on the Tigris river and found a locked chest. Unable to get it open without ruining it, he sold it to an important Caliph. When the Caliph opens the chest, he finds a body. It's a young woman who's been murdered. HE orders his vizier to find the murderer in three days or face death himself. 


NEXT: HISTORY OF THE MYSTERY 1841

BOOK REVIEW: THE HALLOWEEN GOBLIN

PIXIE TRICKS: 
THE HALLOWEEN GOBLIN
Tracey West
Scholastic
2000

Available: paperback, school binding

     Violet is on a mission. She's helping her fairy friend Sprite to capture fourteen mischievous pixies that have escaped from their world. This is the fourth book in the series. This time they have two imps to catch. Buttercup delights in giving

RIDDLE BRAIN TEASER #9

RIDDLE BRAIN TEASER #9

What type of cheese is made backwards? 

RIDDLE BRAIN TEASER #8

RIDDLE BRAIN TEASER #8

Which month has 28 days? 

RIDDLE BRAIN TEASER #8

RIDDLE BRAIN TEASER #8

Two flies are on the porch. Which one is an actor?

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE ANSWER

BOOK REVIEW: MISSING

MISSING

Catherine Macphail

Bloomsbury

2000

Available: Hard copy, paperback

     Maxine Moody's older brother Derek disappeared ten months earlier. Did he runaway? Was he kidnapped? Is he dead?  Emotionally her parents are so consumed with his disappearance, it's like she doesn't exist. She takes solace in cutting school and playing video games at the local arcade in her London, England neighborhood. When the police find the remains of a dead boy who's identified as her brother, she thinks life will get better. Her parents will go back to normal. But they don't. Her mother starts consulting mediums. Her father seems even more distant. Could things get any worse? Then the impossible thing happens. She receives a phone call from someone who claims to be her dead brother Derek.

    This is a well-paced mystery thriller. Maxine's prickly personality is both believable and likable. Her angst is real and not fluff. The book also takes  both a real and age appropriate look at the results bullying.

Target audience: Grades 7-9

Mystery suspense: very good

Kid appeal: High

GAME: EYESIGHT CHALLENGE

HOW'S YOUR EYESIGHT?

Take This Test & See!

Eyesight Challenge » free puzzles

BOOK REVIEW: SHERLOCK HOLMES' MINI-MYSTERIES

SHERLOCK HOLMES' MINI-MYSTERIES

Tom Bullimore

Sterling Publishing Company

2005

Available: paperback

   This is a book of 100 mini mysteries for the reader to solve along with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The mysteries are actually logic and math problems disguised under the title "mysteries." At first I was very disappointed because the book jacket didn't clue me in on that little detail. It led me to believe I was going to be "cracking criminal cases." NOT reading a book of math word problems, which I hated as a kid. Once I got over my disappointment, I looked at the mini mysteries a little closer and have to admit, they are kind of clever and could have made my math classes a little more interesting. The book also has a lot of fun graphics.

Target audience: Math students & math teachers