First Clues: Mysteries for Kids is delighted to introduce a new feature for our website, book reviews written by students. These students offer their unique perspective on the book in their review and provide a valuable resource to parents looking for new mystery adventures for their kids to read.
Midnight in Lonesome Hollow by Kathleen Ernst
The American Girl Mystery Series
American Girl Publishing (Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-59369-160-2 (1593691602)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59369-160-8 (9781593691608)
Publication Date: February 2007
List Price: $6.95
Review written by Sarah, Age 11, Grade 6. Date of review: October 2008.
Review: In the book Midnight in Lonesome Hollow, Kit Kittredge, Lucy Vanderpool, Aunt Millie, and Roy are the main characters. They are dealing with not having money due to the Great Depression and find themselves not trusting “outsiders” (people who don’t live in Kentucky). Even though this is the eighth book in the series, you can read this one at any time because each book is its own story.
The story begins in Kentucky in 1934. Lucy Vanderpool is visiting Kentucky to research the craft of making baskets, which is big in Kentucky because they use baskets for so many different things. Kit is also visiting her Aunt Millie in Kentucky. While they are in Kentucky, they are both staying at Myrtle Peabody’s, so Kit helps Lucy with her project. Kit also has a friend in Kentucky named Fern who may be taken away from her mom because they do not have any money due to the depression. During all of this, someone is trying to ruin their visit. This someone breaks their camera, destroys books that Kit brought with her, and trys to ruin the Dictaphone. Kit is willing to do anything including risk her life to find out who is trying to scare them away.
Midnight in Lonesome Hollow is a terrific mystery and it had me guessing who was causing all the trouble and didn’t want “outsiders” around. The story is suspenseful, and I think that the author didn’t give away the solution too early or too late. Kathleen Ernst did a wonderful job of explaining how everyone in the book was feeling, also she uses interesting, yet wonderful phrases to express their feelings. One of the phrases she used was, “she was heartsick about the threat to Fern’s family and now Aunt Millie’s hopes of finding a creative solution to the problem of educating the local children seemed as forlorn as the abandoned coal-mine operation outside.” This is an example of how the author paints the picture so you can feel what the chapter in the book is feeling. You should read this book not only because it keeps you on the edge of your seat with its awesome suspense, but you learn a memorable lesson about the past. This book is appropriate for ages 8 and older. It may be frightening for young children.
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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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