A 6th grade teacher (my sister, in fact!) provided us with a list of mysteries that her school district had issued to parents as recommended reading for their children over the summer vacation. Although only one of these books is a series title, we wanted to pass them all along as suggestions for fall reading for the amateur sleuth in your family.
Last year, Nancy Springer started a new series featuring 14-year-old Enola Holmes, sister to the famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, and of course, Mycroft Holmes. Like her older brother, she too has keen powers of observation.
In the first book of the series, The Case of the Missing Marquess, Enola becomes a perditorian, or a finder of lost things or people and becomes involved in the disappearance of a young marquess who seems to have been kidnapped. Two additional titles were published earlier this year, The Case of the Left-Handed Lady and The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets. The fourth book in the series, The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, is being published next month.
The Enola Holmes mysteries are recommended for readers aged 10 and older.
Controversial due to its unusual ending, Dead Girls Don't Write Letters is written by Gail Giles and was originally published in early 2003. 14-year-old Sunny doesn't seem heartbroken at the news of her too-perfect sister Jazz's death, though Jazz seems to have been the glue that held their disfunctional family together. But then when someone calling herself "Jazz" returns to the family, someone who isn't Jazz at all, Sunny begins digging, looking for answers, only to find herself questioning ... everything.
The author's website has an overview of the book, what inspired her to write it, a teacher's guide, and possibly most important of all, an explanation of the ending. Dead Girls Don't Write Letters is recommended for readers aged 12 and older.
The Ravenmaster's Secret by Elvira Woodruff is a historical adventure with a unique and colorful setting, originally published in late 2003. They were eleven years old. The year was 1735. She was the enemy, a young Scottish prisoner. He was her jailer, the Ravenmaster's son. Escape was all but impossible. Or was it? Come see for yourself as you cross the drawbridge of time into England's most fortified castle: the Tower of London. A place where terror, not comfort, ruled the day. And a place where friendship could cost children their lives.
Reviews for The Ravenmaster's Secret were uniformly positive: Publishers Weekly said "The period touches will fascinate readers." School Library Journal added, "... suspense, excitement, and interesting characters." And Children's Literature stated, "Suspenseful and touching, this is a thrilling and wonderful read." This book is recommended for readers aged 12 and older.
Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach was published in 2005. When Hero starts 6th grade at a new school, she's less concerned about the literary origins of her Shakespearean name than about the teasing she's sure to suffer because of it. So she has the same name as a girl in a book by a dusty old author. Hero is simply not interested in the connections. But that's just the thing; suddenly connections are cropping up all over, and odd characters and uncertain pasts are exactly what do fascinate Hero. There's a mysterious diamond hidden in her new house, a curious woman next door who seems to know an awful lot about it, and then, well, there's Shakespeare. Is it all in keeping with her namesake's origin - much ado about nothing? Hero, being Hero, is determined to figure it out.
In 2006, Shakespeare's Secret was nominated for an Edgar Award in the Best Juvenile Mystery category. This book is recommended for readers aged 10 and older.
Susan Cooper's brilliant Dark is Rising sequence of five books has enthralled readers since the first book, Over Sea, Under Stone, was published more than forty years ago. The second book, The Dark is Rising, was named a Newberry Honor Book and is now a major motion picture. The fourth, The Grey King, won the Newbery Medal. All five books are available as The Dark is Rising Boxed Set.
In Over Sea, Under Stone (which is more fantasy than mystery and is targeted to a slightly younger audience of readers than the latter four), introduces Merriman, a pivotal character for the forces of the Light. He teams up with three young mortal children, Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew, in a quest by the sea which will lead them over sea and under stone to find a grail of legend to help the Light in its struggle against the Dark.
First Clue Mysteries is pleased to provide information on nearly 100 mystery series for children and young adults. Each series is conveniently listed under three different age categories (New Sleuth, ages 4 to 7; Future Sleuth, aged 7 to 10; and Sleuth in Training, ages 10 and older). If you have a favorite mystery series you'd like to see added to our site, please contact us.
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