Item 10: Partners in Crime: Sleuth or Dare Series

Partners in Crime 

Series Title: ‘Sleuth or Dare’ series 

Author: Kim Harrington

Publisher: New York: Scholastic Inc. 2012.; 179 p.

Annotation:

High schoolers Darcy and Norah are best friends who set up a make-believe detective agency on the Internet as part of a school project. Unexpectedly, a real-life case pops up and Darcy and Norah find themselves playing detectives in an actual missing person case. They become intrigued by the email that was sent to them and the girls are determined to solve the mystery. Readers will enjoy following the quirky main characters; Norah always on the lookout for mystery and Darcy always looking out for her best friend and having a knack for hacking into computers for the right reasons. One thing is for certain, they are nerds at heart.

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Item 9: The Great Cake Mystery

The Great Cake Mystery 

Author: Alexander McCall Smith

Publisher: New York: Anchor Books 2012.; 96 p.

Annotation:

Precious Romastowe is an eight year old girl with a sleuth’s mind. Living in a village in Botswana, she comes across her first case which involves her classmates’ lunches being stolen. Her lead points to a guilty looking boy named Poloko. But Precious doesn’t believe he is the thief. She is determined to go on a daring mission to prove Poloko’s innocence. Young readers will enjoy this book with its’ inquisitive character and two-colour schemes of red and black. There’s also a map mentioned in the narrative, which helps readers to envision the wonderful scenery of flora, fauna, and the settings of Precious’s village world. 

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Item 8: The Sandwich Thief

The Sandwich Thief 

Author: Andree Marois

Publisher: San Francisco: Chronicle Books 2016.; 160 p.

Annotation:

Someone has stolen Marin’s sandwiches. Marin’s mum always makes him her delicious sandwiches from freshly home-baked bread. It’s been happening lately every day where these special sandwiches disappear. So Marin, with the help of his Mum’s chemistry talent, go out to find who the culprit is. The clues have a number of leads. Could it be a classmate, a teacher or the principal? Kids will enjoy reading this quirky and light-hearted mystery, following Marin’s quest in solving the mystery. The story is exciting to read with its’ frenetic, hip graphic illustration and over the top appearance of the characters. The dialogue is a handwritten, floating text, giving this book an episodic feel.

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Item 7: Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library  

Author: Chris Grabenstein

Publisher: New York: Random House [2013]; 304 p.

Annotation: 

Twelve year old Kyle and a group of seventh graders are invited to stay overnight in their new hometown library built by their idol, the famous game maker Luigi Lemoncello. The readers will be carried away with the characters, and together will try to solve the puzzles that Mr.Lemencello has set for them.  The children will try to escape the library lock-in and the first one to do so will win the role of being the spokesperson to Mr. Lemoncello’s company. Through using their smarts, and through Mr. Lemoncello’s ingenious technological sets, readers will be caught in an intuitive narrative experience, featuring book references, Dewey shelf number clues and the feeling of being on a live online game show. This is a unique and interesting twist on mystery genres that is sure to appeal to book and game lovers who like putting their thinking caps on. 

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Item 6: Under the Egg

Under the Egg 

Author: Laura Marx Fitzgerald

Publisher: New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2014.; 256 pages.

Annotation:

Thirteen year old Theodora Tenpenny comes across possibly an old Renaissance masterpiece that was painted over and owned by her deceased grandfather. Theo is excited as it looks like the answer to her and her mother’s money problems. But then she discovers that her grandfather was a security guard at the museum. Was the painting stolen? Poor Theo finds herself in a dilemma. She decides to investigate and with the help of her new friend Bodhi, the two go on a hunt for answers in different historical areas in the Greenwich Village of New York. This art caper offers an intriguing mystery and a vivid narrative with down-to-earth characters that readers will get to love and relate to.

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Item 5: Isabel Feeney: star reporter

Isabel Feeney: star reporter 

Author: Beth Fantaskey

Publisher: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016.; 352 p.

Annotation:

In 1920’s Chicago, a ten-year-old newspaper girl named Isabel Feeney dreams of becoming a reporter just like her much-admired reporter Maude Collier. One day while selling the newspapers, Isabel hears a gunshot. She witnesses the commotion of the murdered victim Mr. Bessemer and the victim’s girlfriend, the accused Miss Giddy. Isabel decides to get involved in the intriguing case and with Maude’s help, she is determined to prove Miss Giddy’s innocence and save her from death row. This is an exciting and fast-paced novel, where gangsters and danger lurk around every corner and a little girl becomes the unsuspecting investigator of a murder mystery. Young readers will find themselves excited and absorbed in this fast-paced action thriller.

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Item 4: Twelve Minutes to Midnight

Twelve Minutes to Midnight 

Author: Christopher Edge

Publisher: Chicago, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company 2014.; 253 pages

Annotation: 

It is 1899 and something very strange is happening to the inmates at the insane asylum in foggy London. Every night at twelve minutes to twelve, the inmates are inscribing writings on any surface they can find. Thirteen year old Penelope Tredwell receives a letter about this strange phenomena. She is the author of a very popular and successful magazine called Penny-Dreadful. No one knows that Penny is the owner and the author of the magazine. She keeps her identity a secret, by hiring an actor to be the author Montgomery Flinch to attend all the promotional events. This book is mysterious, adventurous and so INSANELY entertaining with a good old-fashioned story where the plot thickens and twists unfold. 

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