First Clues: Mysteries for Kids, your source for information on over 100 mystery series for children and young adults where 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), is pleased to announce 11 new mystery series books scheduled for publication during May, 2009.
Mudshark by Gary Paulsen
The Mudshark Series
Mudshark is the go-to guy for any mysteries that need solving. Lost your shoe? Can’t find your homework? Ask Mudshark. That is, until the Psychic Parrot takes up residence in the school library and threatens to overturn Mudshark’s position as the guy who knows all the answers. The word in school is that the parrot can out-think Mudshark. And right now, the school needs someone who’s good at solving problems. There’s an escaped gerbil running rampant, an emergency in the faculty restroom, and all the erasers are disappearing from the classrooms. When Mudshark solves the mystery of who’s stealing the erasers, he discovers the culprit has the best of intentions. Now he has to think of a way to prevent the Psychic Parrot from revealing the eraser-thief’s identity. With a bit of misdirection and a lot of quick thinking, Mudshark restores order to the chaos ... just for the moment. The 1st in what is presumably a new series for elementary school readers.
The Mudshark Series is recommended for readers aged 7 to 9.
The Secret of the Junkyard Shadow by Kristiana Gregory
The Cabin Creek Mysteries
In this sixth book of the series, brothers Jeff and David and their cousin Claire are worried there might be another thief in Cabin Creek. Things keep disappearing ... but then they show up again, repaired and freshly painted! Does the shadowy figure they've seen in the junkyard have the answer to this latest mystery?
The Cabin Creek Mysteries are recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.
The Secret at Jefferson's Mansion by Ron Roy
The Capital Mysteries
While painting a closet in the White House, the President's daughter KC discovers an old box full of handmade toy horses that once belonged to Thomas Jefferson. KC and her friend Marshall go to Monticello, Jefferson’s home, to return the horses, but just after they get there, the box with the horses inside disappears! They have to explore historic Monticello, with its dank wine cellar, tiny dumbwaiter elevator, and spooky family cemetery to track down the thief before the horses are gone for good! The 11th book in this series.
The Capital Mysteries are recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.
The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer
The Enola Holmes Series
Enola may have met her match with ... Florence Nightingale? For Enola, who has been longing for her absent mother, it's difficult to make personal connections. Other than her occasional run-ins with her brother Sherlock, Enola doesn't have many people in her life, except her landlady, Mrs. Tupper. While she's nearly deaf and can't cook to save her life, Mrs. Tupper is endearing, really the closest thing Enola has to family these days. So imagine her horror when Enola comes home to find Mrs. Tupper kidnapped! Who would take her, and why? And what does Florence Nightingale have to do with it? There must be more to the kind, homely Mrs. Tupper than meets the eye. Enola will put absolutely everything at risk to find Mrs. Tupper. And whoever took her had better watch out—because this time, it's personal. The 5th book in this series.
The Enola Holmes Series is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.
The Dead Drop by Jennifer Allison
The Gilda Joyce Series
When Gilda lands a summer internship at Washington, D.C.’s International Spy Museum, she finds herself embroiled in both a museum haunting and a real case of espionage. While investigating a cemetery where Abraham Lincoln’s son was once buried, Gilda stumbles upon a spy’s “dead drop” of classified information. Gilda’s efforts to decode the cryptic message lead to further intrigues: Is she on the trail of a mole operating inside the U.S. intelligence community? Aware that “nothing is what it seems” when it comes to spies in Washington, D.C., Gilda faces the most serious challenge yet in her career as a psychic spy.
The Gilda Joyce Series is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.
The Case of the Pen Gone Missing / El Caso de la Pluma Privado by Rene Saldana
The Mickey Rangel Mysteries
When Toots Rodríguez approaches Mickey on the playground, he knows something is up. Toots, the prettiest girl in the fifth grade, never talks to Mickey, not even when they’re assigned to work together on a class project. But Toots has come to Mickey because she’s in trouble, and he’s a detective. The real deal. He has a badge and a certificate after completing an online course two years ago.
“You have to believe me, Mickey. I didn’t take that pen. I didn’t.” When Toots shines her big green eyes on him and insists repeatedly that she’s innocent, Mickey’s intuition tells him to run fast—in the opposite direction. But he’s a sucker for a pretty girl, so he takes on the case of the missing pen.
Rumor has it that Toots stole Eddy’s pen. It’s not just any old pen; it’s his dad’s pen. It has the White House logo on it. Eddy’s father, a senator from South Texas, got the pen from the President of the United States when he visited the White House last year. As Mickey begins his investigation, though, all the clues point to Toots and her newly ex-boyfriend as the primary suspects. The first book in this new bilingual chapter series.
The Mickey Rangel Mysteries are recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.
The Beast of Blackslope by Tracy Barrett
The Sherlock Files
Xena and Xander have been looking forward to their vacation in the peaceful country village of Blackslope in this second book of the series. But when a huge monster begins to terrorize the town, the young detectives are faced with a mystery that seems impossible to solve. Sherlock Holmes, Xena and Xander’s famous ancestor, investigated the case of a horrible beast in Blackslope, but that was nearly a hundred years ago. It couldn’t be the same creature after all this time—could it?
The Sherlock Files are recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.
The Everafter War by Michael Buckley
The Sisters Grimm
Picking up after the dramatic cliffhanger that ended Book Six, Sabrina and Daphne’s prayers are finally answered when their parents awake from their sleeping spell. But their happy reunion is short-lived, as they are caught in the middle of a war between the Scarlet Hand and Prince Charming’s Everafter army. As the family works to help the prince’s ragtag group of rebels and protect their friends, Sabrina comes face-to-face with the family’s deadliest enemy—the mysterious Master—who reveals a secret so shocking it will rock the entire family to its core.
The Sisters Grimm Series is recommended for readers aged 10 to 12.
Death by Denim by Linda Gerber
The Aphra Connolly Series
Even though Aphra Connolly knows there are some very dangerous people on their tail when she met her mom, Natalie, in Paris, she envisioned the two of them strolling along the Champs-Elysées, sharing Nutella-smeared crepes and mother-daughter bonding. But the only strolling they’ve been doing is from one cheap hostel to another, and the “moments” they share consist of Natalie instructing Aphra on the finer points of anonymity and survival. When Natalie’s CIA contact in Paris is found floating in the Seine with a deadly message stuffed into his mouth, Aphra realizes that, like Seth Mulo and his family, she will never be able to stop running unless she confronts the situation head-on. Sneaking away from her mom and her CIA protector Ryan, Aphra tracks down a criminal mastermind in Italy, only to discover that Seth had the same idea, and her presence may have just put Seth in mortal danger. The 3rd book in this series.
The Aphra Connolly Series is recommended for readers aged 13 and older.
Dead is So Last Year by Marlene Perez
The Giordano Sisters Mysteries
Something very strange starts happening in Nightshade the summer that the eldest Giordano sister, Rose, gets a job working at Dr. Franken's research laboratory. People are starting to see double. Doppelgängers of Nightshade residents are popping up all over town. Daisy, Rose and Poppy think it's a coincidence, until the rumors start that their father, who disappeared several years ago, has been spotted in town. Meanwhile, Daisy's beau, Ryan is spending all of his time training for football, and like the other guys on the team, he's grown enormous almost overnight. Samantha Devereux's boyfriend's neck has doubled in size since school ended. Could the football players be resorting to extreme measures to win? Between summer jobs, sugar rushes, and beach parties, the Giordano girls get to the bottom of these mysteries and more. The 3rd book in this series.
The Giordano Sisters Mysteries are recommended for readers aged 13 and older.
Young Spenser by Robert B. Parker
A Young Spenser Novel
Spenser's father and two uncles, all three boxers and carpenters, raised him to be tough. However, his father also taught him something even more important: sometimes the toughest thing a guy can do is walk away from a fight. Between learning to spar from his father and uncles, Spenser forms a friendship with Jeannie. Jeannie's relationship with her abusive father challenges this paramount lesson of knowing when to walk away from a fight. When she gets into trouble, Spenser knows he has a difficult decision to make. Should he trust his gut and risk his own life to save hers? The 1st book in what will likely be a continuing series.
This Young Spenser Novel is recommended for readers aged 13 and older.
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