Middle School Mysteries

Middle school mysteries (10/17/05)

Question: I am looking for mysteries for a 6th grade girl from a religious family. I want to make sure they do not include any elements of supernatural. I would also be curious of any links to lists of CLEAN books.

Answers:

· Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach: Summary--Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school.

Down the rabbit hole: An Echo Falls mystery by Abrahams, PeterPublisher: Laura Geringer Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsSummary: In his first novel for young readers best-selling author Peter Abrahams tells the story of Ingrid, a spunky thirteen year old who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. Like her idol Sherlock Holms Ingrid undertakes a series of suspenseful adventures to track down the killer. The deft use of literary allusions and ironic humor add further touches of class to this topnotch mystery. With plenty of excitement this is a mystery that is just right for all types of readers.

Sammy Keyes Series by VanDraanen.Some are murder mysteries (the murder is down played) with no supernatural element involved. Sammy is living with her grandmother (doesn’t know who her father is--may be a problem) but has a very loving, positive relationship with her grandma. There is no language and no sexuality just a good old fashioned mystery with intriguing characters and realistic setting.

Some mysteries by Betty Wren Wright do not have ghosts.

Hermux Tantamoq adventures by Michael Hoeye (3 so far) are about a mystery solving, watch repairing mouse and are a lot of fun.

· I enjoyed Dorothy Hoobler's In Darkness, Death......set in 18th century Japan with ninja warriors and an investigation of a murder....I only read this title but it is part of a series or trilogy? I do know characters are repeated but don't know how many titles there are....
· Chet Gecko series was very popular a few years ago. Good for reluctant boys.

Chasing Vermeer carries a superstitious element. The boy, Calder, owns a set of Pentaminoes, and each of the 12 pieces stands for a letter of the alphabet. Calder often looks for clues depending on which pentamino piece he randomly takes out of his pocket. If it's a T piece, then maybe the clue or important info starts with T. He and the girl, Petra, also decide that 12 is a very significant number, so that leads them to a few clues.

Classics -- The Egypt Game and The Westing Game.

· The Egypt Game was a favorite of mine, but it might not suit this family as I recall some hints of a mystical element and stuff about Egyptian religion that might not work for them.

Joan Lowery Nixon usually wrote pretty basic mysteries without much nonsense in between.

Betsy Byars had a female protagonist series which reads well: the character’s name is HERCULEAH JONES.

Look at those books that have been finalists for the Poe Award for children's and YA mystery at http://www.mysterywriters.org/

Jennie McGrady Mysteries series by Patricia Rushford - An older series published by a Christian publisher. Rushford didn't beat people over the head with theology. The books are fine for a 6th grade reader, if you can find them.
Curse of the Hanged Man by Frank Peretti is another Christian mystery for preteens and young teens.
Older mysteries by Joan Lowery Nixon for a student in 6th grade: The Dark and Deadly Pool, The Weekend was Murder, The Other Side of Dark; Who Are You and Murdered My Sweet should also be fine.

· If she likes Westing Game then she should try The Tattooed Potato and other clues.

· Grace Cavendish mystery series by Patricia Finney. The main character is a young lady-in-waiting for Queen Elizabeth who solves mysteries in her court. It's sort of an A to Z mysteries set in Elizabethan England, the first two titles being Assassin and Betrayal.