What is Mystery?
- Focuses on a crime, puzzle or unusual problem to solve
- Main character is realistic and is often a detective
- Search to reveal hidden secrets and follow clues
- Suspenseful
- Settings can be dark, mysterious, or scary
eBooks
Get into a Mystery Series!
The 100-Year-Old Secret by
What if you inherited Sherlock Holmes's book of unsolved cases? Xena and Xander Holmes have just discovered they're related to Sherlock Holmes and have inherited his unsolved casebook! The siblings set out to solve the cases their famous ancestor couldn't, starting with the mystery of a prized painting that vanished more than a hundred years ago. Can two smart twenty-first-century kids succeed where Sherlock Holmes could not? Modern technology meets the classic detective story inThe 100-Year-Old Secret, the first in Tracy Barrett's terrific new mystery series that will intrigue young sleuths everywhere!
Bowling Alley Bandit by
As Mr. Bing's new pet "doughnut dog," Arnie couldn't be happier. When Mr. Bing joins a bowling league, Arnie gets to go along to practices and competitions. But then Mr. Bing starts rolling gutter balls. Someone or something is behind the madness. Arnie, together with his team of goofball friends, must sort through the shenanigans and solve the mystery. Get ready for some sleuthing and even some magic. Full of Laurie Keller's winning charm and silly humor, this chapter book--the first in the series--is sure to please her many fans. This title has Common Core connections. Bowling Alley Bandit is aKirkus Reviews Best Book of 2013
The Jaguar's Jewel by
Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose visit New York City! Dink's uncle is the curator of a museum with a dazzling new treasure--a statue of a jaguar cradling an emerald between its front paws. But when it's discovered that the emerald has been replaced with a fake, Dink's uncle is the chief suspect. He'll go to jail if Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose can't uncover the real thief!
Calendar Mysteries #5: May Magic by
From the author of the popular A to Z Mysteries comes a story of magical mayhem featuring the younger siblings of the A to Z Mysteries kids! May is for Magic... In the fifth book of the Calendar Mysteries - an early chapter book mystery series - twins Bradly and Brian are celebrating Mother's Day by treating their mom to a hypnotist's show. But when the Pinto family gets home from the show, the twins' mom starts acting strange. She splashes in the bathtub for hours, she leaves corn kernels all over - she even quacks! Bradley thinks his mom has been hypnotized into believing she's a duck! Can Bradley and Brian, with help from their friends Lucy and Nate, turn their mom back into their mom? Parents, teachers, and librarians agree that these highly collectible chapter books are perfect for emerging readers and any kid who loves mysteries!
Publication Date: 2011-03-22
The Case of the Soldier's Ghost by
A ghost has been spotted lurking around Capitol City's American History Museum. It seems someone--or something--is unhappy with the museum's recent exhibit on the Vietnam War. Can Raining Sam, the son of the head of educational programs at the museum, and his friends figure out who's behind the haunting before someone gets hurt?
Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians by
Serving justice . . . and lunch! Lunch Lady can sniff out something rotten like no one else--and there's definitely something rotten going on in the library. The usually friendly librarians have become cold and secretive. Even Dee can't seem to crack a smile out of them. What darkness may lurk in the hearts of librarians? Lunch Lady is on the case! And Hector, Terrence, and Dee are along for a wild ride!
The Maze of Bones (the 39 Clues, Book 1) by
The first book in the #1 bestselling phenomenon sends readers around the world on the hunt for the 39 Clues!Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her decendants an impossible decision: "You have a choice - one million dollars or a clue."Grace is the last matriarch of the Cahills, the world's most powerful family. Everyone from Napoleon to Houdini is related to the Cahills, yet the source of the family power is lost. 39 Clues hidden around the world will reveal the family's secret, but no one has been able to assemble them. Now the clues race is on, and young Amy and Dan must decide what's important: hunting clues or uncovering what REALLY happened to their parents.
Off Base by 
Swindle by
After a mean collector named Swindle cons him out of his most valuable baseball card, Griffin Bing must put together a band of misfits to break into Swindle's compound and recapture the card. There are many things standing in their way -- a menacing guard dog, a high-tech security system, a very secret hiding place, and their inability to drive -- but Griffin and his team are going to get back what's rightfully his . . . even if hijinks ensue.
Dying to Meet You by
Ignatius B. Grumply moves into the Victorian mansion at 43 Old Cemetery Road hoping to find some peace and quiet so he can crack a wicked case of writer's block. But 43 Old Cemetery Road is already occupied by eleven-year-old Seymour, his cat Shadow, and an irritable ghost named Olive. It's hard to say who is more outraged. But a grumpy old ghost just might inspire this grumpy old man--and the abandoned kid? Well, let's just say his last name's Hope. Sisters Kate and M. Sarah Klise, the creators of the award-winning Regarding the . . . series, offer up this volume in a clever epistolary series told in letters, drawings, newspaper articles, a work-in-progress manuscript, and even an occasional tombstone engraving.
Search for a Mystery
The Amazing Life of Azaleah Lane by
Azaleah can't wait for her class field trip to the National Zoo in Washington D.C., especially when her teacher announces the chance to earn extra credit. But when Azaleah gets home, she quickly realizes extra credit isn't as easy as she thought. Azaleah's younger sister Tiana can't find Greenie, her stuffed animal, and she's sure he's been stolen. With Mama at the restaurant and Daddy at work on a big case, it seems Azaleah is the only one available to track down the stolen stuffie. Can Azaleah get to the bottom of the mystery in time to finish her extra credit?
Cheer Fears by
Robert, Maryam, and Kylie are excited to be at a sleepaway cheer camp. But then their bunkmates--and main cheer competition--try to convince them their cabin is haunted. The three friends laugh it off until some suspicious things start happening. Flickering lights, getting locked in the bathroom, vandalized poms could all be the work of a cheer competitor . . . or is it the Cabin 4 ghost? Robert is convinced he knows who's to blame, but will he be able to prove it?
Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: the Secret Letters by
In this page-turning middle grade series by New York Times bestseller Margaret Peterson Haddix, Colin and Nevaeh, whose parents own rival junk-removal businesses, uncover mysteries hidden in attics and basements and discover how trash can become treasure. In The Secret Letters, Colin and Nevaeh find vintage letters that lead to interlocking mysteries from the 1970s and '80s, and they learn about "women's lib," the ERA, and other social issues from that time in history--and the way echoes from that era affect Colin and Nevaeh themselves. When Colin finds a shoebox full of letters hidden in a stranger's attic, he knows he's supposed to throw them away. That's his summer job, getting rid of junk. But Colin wants to rescue the letters--and find out what really happened to best friends Rosemary and Toby way back in the 1970s. Meanwhile, across town, Nevaeh also finds a mysterious letter. But this one reads like a confession to a crime. And Nevaeh knows her father, the "Junk King," expects her to join the rest of the family in blaming a single suspect: his business rival, Colin's mom. But that's not what Nevaeh wants, either. Even as one set of letters bring Colin and Nevaeh together, the one Nevaeh found threatens to tear them apart. Is their new friendship as doomed as Rosemary and Toby's? Each book in the Mysteries of Trash and Treasure series will examine a different time period in history and make readers think about how we value the stuff we hold on to--and what it is that makes it valuable.
Full-Court Mess by
Lisa Vega and her basketball teammates are thrilled when they make it into the regional playoffs. But before they can play their first game, they discover that their school gym has been vandalized. Paint is splattered everywhere. The basketball hoops and nets are destroyed. And all of the balls have been slashed open. It's the middle of winter, and the girls have nowhere to practice. Who would do this? Did the rival team from across town somehow wreck the girls' gym? Or is someone else to blame? Follow along as Lisa and her teammates uncover the clues and track down the culprit who trashed their court in this Jake Maddox JV Mystery.
Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms by
Enter a wonderful world filled with real magic, mystery, and danger. As if being small and having S. Horten as his name isn't bad enough, now 10-year-old Stuart is forced to move far away from all his friends.But on his very first day in his new home, Stuart's swept up in an extraordinary adventure: the quest to find his great-uncle Tony--a famous magician who literally disappeared off the face of the earth--and Tony's marvelous, long-lost workshop.nbsp;Along the way, Stuart reluctantly accepts help from the annoying triplets next door… and encounters trouble from another magician who's also desperate to get hold of Tony's treasures. A quirky, smart, charming page-turner, Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms will enchant young readers--as well as teachers, librarians, and parents. nbsp; nbsp;Long-listed for the Carnegie Medal (2012) and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (2011)
Isabel Feeney, Star Reporter by
It's 1920s Chicago--the guns-and-gangster era of Al Capone--and it's unusual for a girl to be selling the Tribune on the street corner. But ten-year-old Isabel Feeney is unusual . . . unusually obsessed with being a news reporter. She can't believe her luck when she stumbles not only into a real-live murder scene, but also into her hero, the famous journalist Maude Collier. The story of how the smart, curious, loyal Isabel fights to defend the honor of her accused friend and latches on to the murder case like a dog on a pant leg makes for a winning, thoroughly entertaining middle grade mystery.
Judy Moody, Girl Detective by
It's an honest-to-jeepers mystery! Agent Judy Drewdy sets out to solve the case of the missing puppy when a canine-cop-in-training vanishes into thin air. Judy Moody is in a sleuthing, Nancy Drew kind of mood. She's hunting for a mystery -- and she doesn't have to snoop for long! When Mr. Chips, a beloved crime-dog-in-training, goes missing, Judy and her chums find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a real-life, scare-your-pants-off whodunit. Was Mr. Chips stolen by dirty dognappers? And why are chocolate-chip cookies disappearing all over town?
The Library: Mysterious Messenger (Book 1) by
There's a place beyond this world where spirits tell their tales--stories that ended too soon, or don't end at all. It's a place for unexplainable things: mysteries without solutions. Ghosts. Boogeymen. They all have a story. Marcus and his friends have found the key to unlock the Library. And they need to use it, because, clearly, something is up. Some strange guy in a bathrobe haunts them; fires rage and flare out in an instant; a creepy old lady shows up at Marcus's house. . . . At first Marcus thinks he's going nuts, until the terror gets real. The Library may hold some answers, but if there's an unfinished mystery, the three friends will have to complete the story . . . any way they possibly can.
Mistakes Were Made by
Meet "detective" Timmy Failure, star of the kids’ comedy of the year. Created by New York Times best-selling cartoonist Stephan Pastis. Take Timmy Failure — the clueless, comically self-confident CEO of the best detective agency in town, perhaps even the nation. Add his impressively lazy business partner, a very large polar bear named Total. Throw in the Failuremobile — Timmy’s mom’s Segway — and what you have is Total Failure, Inc., a global enterprise destined to make Timmy so rich his mother won’t have to stress out about the bills anymore.
The Mystery Monster by
Fact-loving Paige sets out to prove imaginative Penn wrong about a neighborhood monster in this first book in the mystery graphic novel chapter book series Paige Proves It! Paige loves facts! She records interesting information in her facts journal and shares it with anyone who will listen. Wombats' poop is cube-shaped! Her street's buildings have seventy-three windows. And a boy named Penn lives next door. The two couldn't be more different. The craziest thing Paige believes is that bananas are actually berries (scientifically proven!), but Penn thinks there's a monster in the neighborhood! Paige will prove Penn wrong and that monsters aren't real, one fact at a time.
Room One by
Ted Hammond loves a good mystery, and in the spring of his fifth-grade year, he's working on a big one. How can his school in the little town of Plattsford stay open next year if there are going to be only five students? Out here on the Great Plains in western Nebraska, everyone understands that if you lose the school, you lose the town. But the mystery that has Ted's full attention at the moment is about that face, the face he sees in the upper window of the Andersons' house as he rides past on his paper route. The Andersons moved away two years ago, and their old farmhouse is empty, boarded up tight. At least it's supposed to be. A shrinking school in a dying town. A face in the window of an empty house. At first these facts don't seem to be related. But Ted Hammond learns that in a very small town, there's no such thing as an isolated event. And the solution of one mystery is often the beginning of another.
The Secret Tree by
When a group of students depend on a tree to keep their secrets for them, things don't turn out quite as they expect. Secrets are told, found, shared, and kept in the latest from the compelling imagination of Natalie Standiford.
Small Spaces by
When eleven-year-old Ollie lost her mother in a plane crash, she sought solace in her books. So when she stumbles upon a distraught woman standing on the banks of the river intent on throwing a book into the water, Ollie stops her, steals the book and rides away on her bike. Upon reading, Ollie discovers a chilling ghost story about a girl, Elizabeth Morrison, who is being chased through cornfields filled with scarecrows by two brothers with deadly intent. When she finds the graves of Elizabeth Morrison and her tormentors, Jonathan and Caleb, on a farm during a school trip, on a day already full of odd occurrences, Ollie starts to think this book is more than just a book. On the ride home, the school bus breaks down along the side of the road and none of the kids or their teacher can get service on their cell phones to call for help. And then Ollie's digital wristwatch starts a mysterious countdown, with the word RUN spelled out on the face. She and two unlikely new friends are the only ones to heed its warning. As night begins to fall, they head out into the woods, bracketed by fearsome scarecrows. The bus driver gives them a word of advice. In order to survive whatever is coming, they'll need to keep to small spaces.
That's the Spirit! by
The brown house at the end of Shaker Street is a bit shady. Everyone who moves in gets scared off. Liv is convinced the house is haunted by the ghost of its late owner, General Pablo Carlos, Michael doesn't buy it, and Leo want nothing to do with ghosts! One thing's for certain, something fishy is going on. The Mysterious Makers set to making a ghost detector to determine just what's behind the spirit on Shaker Street. Real-life makers can keep the fun going and create their own detector and levitating ghost with instructions at the end of the book, and a glossary and reader questions make this a great choice.
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