Mystery – Page 8 – Sneak Peek Books

Alex Rider: Never Say Die

Alex is now living in San Francisco, trying to recover from the tragic death of his caregiver, Jack Starbright. Alex was forced to watch Jack’s murder at the hands of terrorists working for SCORPIA. With Jack gone, Alex struggles to find his place. When he gets an unexpected and cryptic email, he’s sure it’s from Jack. In an attempt to prove that Jack is alive, Alex boards a flight to Egypt and begins searching for clues to Jack’s whereabouts.

Alex’s story jumps from Egypt to France to Wales. As Alex searches for Jack, he comes face to face with twin brothers, who plan to kidnap the children of the wealthiest citizens of the world. Soon Alex is caught up in a tangle of intrigue that may lead to his death.

Packed with action, unexpected twists, and a mystery, Never Say Die will catch readers’ interest from the very first page. Alex is a strong character, who uses his brains to get out of difficult situations. The story descriptions will carry the reader into Alex’s world—a world that is often filled with fear. The evil twins and the people who help them are vicious criminals who have no problem murdering anyone that is perceived as a threat. Their willingness to kill and the violent descriptions of the creative ways they murder may cause some readers to have nightmares. Anthony Horowitz tells an engaging story that deals with terrorists, murder, and kidnapping.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A woman kills two pilots by using tetrodotoxin. It “is extremely fast-acting, shutting down a person’s nervous system in minutes. Brad struggled to his feet but died before he was halfway there . . . Sergeant Brad Perkins stared up at her with empty eyes.”
Later in the story, the same woman tries to poison Alex. “The deadly poison, tetrodotoxin, shot silently across the room and penetrated his jacket. Alex jerked backward, his shoulders slamming into the door. . . Slowly, he slid down to the floor and lay still.” Luckily, the poisonous dart only hits his wallet. Alex and the woman scuffle. “She was strangling him. The pupils were dancing in her eyes, and her lips were stretched in a smile as she used her weight to press him down, her hands gripping tighter and tighter.” Alex is able to grab a bedside light. “With the very last of his strength, he swung it into the side of the woman’s head. He felt metal connect with bone . . . Dragana keeled over and lay still.”
Alex has nightmares about his past when two men tied him to a chair and force him watch a video of “the person he most loves” die. “The car drove out of the fort and into the desert. And then, as it had done the night before and every night after . . .it blew up.”
Alex stops two boys from harassing a young boy. The boys retaliate. “Colin swung the knife, aiming for Alex’s chest . . . Alex took hold of his wrist with one hand and his elbow with the other . . . Colin’s hand with the knife rushed past him.” The knife accidentally “sliced across Clayton’s arm.” Colin then tries to hit Alex, who avoids the punch. “Alex was standing next to a lamppost. Colin’s fist slammed into the metal. Alex actually heard his fingers break.”
A man tries to capture Alex. The man with a gun tries to get out of a car when “Alex kicked out, slamming the door. The man shouted and fell back . . .” Alex is able to escape.
A group of men try to kill Alex. During the scene, which takes place over approximately six pages, Alex is forced to defend himself. One man is knocked unconscious when Alex drops a cannonball “on the side of his head.” Alex makes a cactus bomb and throws it at a man, hitting him in the face. “It didn’t bounce off. . . Instead it stuck there, with at least a dozen spikes piercing his lips, his cheeks, the side of his nose and one of his eyes, each barb injecting its poison into his nervous system.” One of the men tries to stab Alex, but the man is shot. “. . . His hand became a splash of red and the knife spun away. A second shot, and he was thrown onto his back. Alex knew at once that he wouldn’t be getting up again.”
In order to escape from bad men, Alex makes a trap that causes an explosion. The men “both screamed and reeled backwards, crashing into each other. The whole of the bald man’s head seemed to catch fire for a few seconds . . . The other man had thrown himself down. He was rolling over and over on the carpet, his clothes blazing.” As Alex tries to escape, one of the men shoots a woman.
Two brothers have their father killed. “. . . Carlo was gunned down in his Jacuzzi by his own bodyguard . . . With Carlo gone, the brothers took control of the family, and the next few years were bloodier and more violent than any that had gone before.”
The two brothers go to the hospital to kill a woman by using a trick. “It was one of their favorite tricks, and they would take turns—one watching, one doing the actual work. The wire went straight up her nose and into the medulla oblongata, the nerve mass located at the lower base of the brain . . . she was dead before she knew what had happened.”
Two brothers catch Alex spying and tie him to a chair, “his hands tied behind him, the rope so tight that it was cutting into his flesh.” The brothers intend to kill him by using “cement shoes.” A man padlocks a cement block around Alex’s ankle and throws him into the ocean. Alex is saved by a scuba diver.
In an attempt to escape, Alex attacks a man with a nail. Alex “smiled with satisfaction as the point drove into Stallone’s neck. Stallone howled and fell back, blood spurting out between his fingers.”
The two brothers give a woman cyanide. “She had suddenly become very still. In fact she was staring at the ceiling with empty eyes. Her tongue was sticking out of the corner of her mouth. Her face had gone mauve.”
The two brothers kidnap a van full of children and hold them for ransom. When the parents try to negotiate, the brothers discuss killing one of the children. “The important thing is to make sure it’s one of the poorer children. We don’t want to upset any of the billionaires.”
When attempting to save the children, a woman takes out one of the bad guys. She hits him with a chisel. “But it was the wooden handle that slammed into his skull, and with a grunt, he fell to one side . . . He was out cold.”
As Alex and his friend lead the children to safety, the bad guys try to recapture them. The scene takes place over about a chapter and a half. A security guard dies saving Alex’s life. “Alex saw spatters of blood appear across Philby’s back, forming hideous red stains that spread through his shirt.” During the escape, Alex sets fire to a structure. “Several of the guards had been caught in the blaze. He had heard them screaming.”
During the escape scene, Alex puts a thermos in a train’s chimney causing an explosion. The brothers “didn’t even know it had happened. They simply felt a jolt as if some gigantic gust of wind, coming out of nowhere, had hit the Midnight Flyer on its side.” They crash into the face of a mountain. One of the men on the train knows he is going to die. “His face, already badly burned, distorted one last time in sheer terror as the steam locomotive smashed into a solid wall of rock.”

Drugs and Alcohol

One of the character’s “career had ended following a drunken fight with another pilot. She was twice his size, but even so, she had put him into the hospital. In fact, he was still there.”
A character had “drunk too much wine. The third bottle was definitely a mistake, and she had felt quite giddy as she had climbed into the taxi. . .”
Two of the characters help in their father’s business. “Even as teenagers, they loved the idea of becoming gangsters and had actually helped their father on occasion—for example, carry drugs inside their teddy bears on international flights.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Listen to the Moon

Twelve-year-old Merry will never forget the day a German U-boat shot down the Lusitania. That was the day her life took a tragic turn as most of the passengers on the ship died, including Merry’s mother. In an amazing turn of events, Merry is saved, only to be abandoned on the uninhabited St. Helen’s Island.

When fisherman Jim Wheatcroft and his son find Merry, she is injured, ill, and unable to talk or remember who she is. Wheatcroft’s family tries to help Merry, who they call Lucy, heal from her physical and emotional wounds. However, the family had no idea how cruel their community would become when they believed Lucy was German.

Listen to the Moon chronicles the true story of a young girl who left for England to be with her injured father and ended up on a small island during World War II. It is a story of bravery, friendship, and kindness.

The story is amazing; however, the slow pace and topic of war may make it difficult for younger readers to get through the story. Although the violence is nothing shocking, the story shows what happens to those who go to war; it also highlights the injuries and hopelessness of a boy who comes back from the war. The reader will see the death of the people on the Lusitania, but they will also see the kindness of German soldiers as they help the young girl survive.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Alfie and a boy get into a fight at school. “Alfie was on his feet, grabbing Zeb and pinning him against the wall, shouting in his face, nose to nose.”
The school teacher hits students on the knuckles with the edge of the ruler when they misbehave. The teacher also “grabs [Lucy] by the arm and jerked her to her feet . . . In his fury he took her by the shoulders now, and shook her.”
The passenger ship Lusitania is bombed by a German U-boat and sinks. The sinking of the ship is described as well as the lifeboats leaving people to die. “The ocean was littered with wreckage as far as the eye could see, and among it were hundreds of people, swimming for their lives, many of them losing their lives as I watched.”
A crowd of school children closes in around Alfie. Then Lucy jumps on one of the boys. Lucy was, “hanging on to him, her forehead pressed into his back . . . Alfie was knocked over from behind to the ground. Then punching and kicking began. As he curled himself into a ball, he saw Lucy sitting astride Zeb and pummeling him, but then the others pulled her off and began kicking her to . . .”
A German sailor talks about sinking ships. He talks about the men who die. “You can hear them shout, hear them scream. For a sailor to kill a sailor is like killing a brother.”

Drugs and Alcohol

The doctor smokes a pike and washes his fish pie down with a glass of beer.

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

As the people are dying, Lucy describes the dying people, who cries were, “begging for help from God, from anyone, help that I knew neither God nor I could give.”
During a sermon, a pastor talks about the German enemy. “He lost no opportunity to remind everyone of the barbaric atrocities committed by the German enemy, the bayoneting of little children in brave little Belgium, and the shameful torpedoing of the Lusitania. . . Always remember we are fighting for God and our country, against the forces of evil. Did not the Angel appear to our troops at Mons? Is not God on our side, on the side of freedom and right?”
Jim, the man who took Lucy in, tells his wife, “. . . there is a God in heaven, which you know I have my doubts about. Then that God of yours will look after Lucy, won’t he, even if it turns out she speaks German? God helps those who help themselves, don’t he?”
When Lucy thinks about her father, “I thank God I did not know much then of the dangers he was in, nor of the horrors of that dreadful war.”

Girl Detective

Friday has perfected the art of going unnoticed. She has spent her life learning how to blend into her surroundings. After receiving a monetary award for solving a crime, she decides to go to an exclusive boarding school to better her education. To her dismay, a series of unexpected events cause Friday to become the center of attention time and time again.

Soon Friday is busy solving the school’s mysteries, which include lost homework and stolen desserts. To add to the drama, Friday begins to unravel the secret behind the yeti that is haunting the school’s swamp.

Outrageous teachers, teen bullies, and a cute boy add to the plot of Friday Barnes Girl Detective and will intrigue readers. Friday is a delight because while she is amazingly smart, she is clueless when it comes to picking up on social cues. When Friday and her roommate work together to solve mysteries, their relationship will cause giggles.

Friday Barns Girl Detective is a humorous story that will captivate younger readers. A Yeti brings suspense to the story. A cute boy brings a light touch of romance that shows the confusion caused by girl-boy relationships. Although the story ties up all loose ends, there is a surprise at the end that will make readers want to pick up the next book.

Sexual Content

It is rumored that the gardener has a crush on a teacher. “. . . Diego the gardener, who was hiding in the bushes staring at Miss Harrow because he is so deeply in love with her but doesn’t speak English so he can’t tell her so.”
Friday sees a cute boy and has a surprising reaction. “I didn’t realize seeing someone so good-looking could have such a disconcerting effect on my respiratory system.”
A teacher flirts with the school secretary. “Miss Priddock giggled and smiled her own less practiced yet equally nauseating smile back.”

Violence

A car accidently hits Friday, but she is not seriously hurt. “. . . she heard screeching rubber and slipping breaks, and looked to see the SUV right before it slammed into her suitcase, which slammed into her, causing her to stumble and bang her head on an ornamental statue of Socrates.”
Binky is challenged to a fight. Binky doesn’t want to fight but feels as if he has to. During the fight, Binky, “leaped onto his left foot and swung his right foot forward to knock the other boy’s foot from underneath him.” The other boy’s knee is hurt, and he “appeared to be crying.”
While being chased by a Yeti Friday, “whipped her autographed baseball bat out of her backpack, held it high above her head, and did what the book on kendo had instructed. She screamed with a terrifying vehemence, “Hiiiiiyaaaahhhh!!!!!” Then the yeti stumbled and Friday discovers it was not a yeti after all, but a person in disguise.
Friday and another student were, “grabbed from behind and had sacks roughly shoved over their heads.” Then they are tied to chairs with plastic zip ties.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

When someone steals clothes out of Friday’s room and hides them in the swamp, Melanie tells her, “You should trust in fate to lead you to your clothes . . . if you are meant to have them back, then you will find them.”

Spiritual Content

None

The Stone Child

Eddie has a lot on his plate. A new town, a new school, and a missing author. The missing man happens to be Eddie’s favorite author, a man famous for his scary stories. A man who hasn’t been seen for thirteen years. A man whose monsters seem to be walking right off the pages of his best-selling novels.

When Eddie finds an unfinished novel with the worst monster yet, he knows he cannot let that monster, The Woman, into his world. He and his friends set off to figure out what happened to the monsters’ author and to discover how his stories are coming to life. What they find is more terrifying and more dangerous than they ever imagined. Soon the fate of the world relies on three kids racing against time. For once The Woman’s story is complete, she will be able to torment our world.

The Stone Child is a spooky story with loads of suspense. It is written for younger readers with an appetite for mysteries, but may not be the best choice for children who scare easily. Eddie has creepy encounters with supernatural beings. Although monsters chase Eddie and his friends, the scenes are not graphic.

Eddie does get into a bit of trouble for the sake of the mystery. He trespasses, cuts class, and lies to his parents about where he is and what he is doing. But the whole time he is trying to stop The Woman, he is working to keep his parents and the rest of the world safe.

Sexual Content

Harris warns Eddie, “‘She’s a real witch…Be careful. She probably put a spell on you. You might fall in love with her and have little witch babies.’ Then he started kissing his own hand in a really gross way.”

Violence

Eddie and his family crash into a strange creature. “His father smashed his foot against the brake pedal. The car began to fishtail; the tires squealed. Eddie felt himself jerk forward against the seat belt . . Then came the horrible crunch as the front of the car crashed into the creature, sending it flying into the greenish darkness of the woods.”
Eddie says a creepy guy was “sort of cool.” His mother jokes, “If serial killers are cool, then sure.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

Hell is said twice. For example, Harris screams, “You scared the hell out of us!”

Supernatural

People believe in the Olmstead Curse. They think characters that Olmstead wrote about have come alive in the town of Gatesweed.
People say a ghost haunts the woods behind Olmstead’s old house.

Spiritual Content

The Garden of Eden becomes a central part of the mystery. According to what Eddie discovers, two statues guarded the garden against “creatures…doomed to exile.” These creatures are the ones haunting Gatesweed. Lilith, Adam’s first wife, was banished from the garden. “Lilith’s only companions in her new home were the Exiled – the most vile wretched creatures.” Those creatures have escaped from another world into ours, and now Lilith is trying to follow suit.

by Morgan Lynn

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer

Theodore Boone is the son of two well-respected lawyers in the town of Strattenburg. He aspires to be a lawyer himself. In fact, he prides himself on providing legal advice to classmates, and even some adults. But when a murder is committed and the trial commences in the otherwise peaceful town, Theo discovers that there is a witness to the crime that no one knows about. But the witness, an illegal immigrant, is hesitant to come forward. Theo must decide how to carefully work around the delicate issue that could result in someone getting away with murder.

This pre-teen novel has a well-developed and interesting plot. While there is mention of a murder, there are few gory details, making it pre-teen friendly. There are many positive role models in the book, including lawyers, judges, policemen, and teachers. Theodore explains the basics of the judicial system in a way that young readers can easily understand. Although an illegal immigrant is one of the main characters in the book, there are very few political influences that affect his treatment. There are several references to drugs and alcohol, but in no instances are they glorified. Overall, this book is educational, exciting, and well-suited for pre-teens.

Sexual Content

Theodore lacks any romantic interest for his friend, April. “It wasn’t a romance; they were too young for that. Theo did not know of a single thirteen-year-old boy in his class who admitted to having a girlfriend. Just the opposite. They wanted nothing to do with them. And the girls felt the same way. Theo had been warned that things would change, and dramatically, but that seemed unlikely.”
Because girls and boys were split into different classes, there was flirting in the hallways. “There was some awkward flirting between the rooms as the boys mixed with the girls. During classes, they were ‘gender separated,’ according to a new policy adopted by the smart people in charge of educating all the children in town. The genders were free to mingle at all other times.”
Theo has a romantic interest in a woman who works as a court clerk. “Jenny, the beautiful, was waiting. ‘Well, hello, Theo,’ she said with a big smile as she looked up from her computer at the long counter. ‘Hello, Jenny,’ he said. She was very pretty and young and Theo was in love. He would marry Jenny tomorrow if he could, but his age and her husband complicated things. Plus, she was pregnant, and this bothered Theo, though he mentioned it to no one.”
The narrator mentions the prettiest, most popular girl in Theo’s class; “The most popular girl in the eighth grade was a curly-haired brunette named Hallie. She was very cute and outgoing and loved to flirt.”
When Hallie tells Theo to call her, Theo gives an excuse related to her flirtatiousness; ‘“Why don’t you call me sometime?’ she asked. Why? Now that was a good question. Probably because he assumed she was too busy talking to all the other boys. She changed boyfriends every month. He’d never even thought of calling her. ‘I’ll do that,’ he said. But he knew he wouldn’t. He wasn’t exactly looking for a girlfriend, and besides, April would be devastated if he began chasing a flirt like Hallie.”

Violence

Theo has a hatred for April’s parents because they treat April poorly. “He despised her parents for the way they treated her. He despised them for the chaos of their lives, for their neglect of April, for their cruelty to her.”
Murder is mentioned frequently throughout the book. ‘“About eighty percent of those indicted for murder eventually plead guilty, because they are in fact guilty. The other twenty percent go to trial, and ninety percent of those are found guilty. So, it’s rare for a murder defendant to be found not guilty.”’
Theo considers the likelihood that Mr. Duffy will commit another murder. “Why would the real killer be a security risk if he showed up to watch the trial? What’s he gonna do? Kill somebody else? In open court? In front of dozens of witnesses?”
Ike, Theo’s uncle, gives him details on how the murder was committed. “’He choked her?’ Theo had read every newspaper story about the murder and knew the cause of death. ‘That’s the theory. She died of strangulation. The prosecutor will claim that Mr. Duffy choked her, then ransacked the house, took her jewelry, tried to make it look as if she had walked in on a burglar.’”
In the prosecutor’s opening statement, he says how the body was found. “When the body was found, the front door of their home was unlocked and slightly open.”
In the prosecutor’s opening statement, he mentions what Mrs. Duffy’s dead body looked like. “The cause of death was strangulation. With the approval of Judge Gantry, Mr. Hogan stepped to a projector, hit a button, and a large color photo appeared on the screen opposite the jury. It showed Mrs. Duffy lying on the carpeted floor, well-dressed, seemingly untouched, her high-heeled shoes still on her feet… Apparently she was ready to leave the house when she was attacked and killed.”
The prosecutor gives further, more detailed information as to how Mrs. Duffy was killed. “An autopsy revealed the true cause of death. The person who killed Mrs. Duffy grabbed her from behind and pressed firmly on her carotid artery. Mr. Hogan placed his fingers on his own carotid artery, on the right side of his neck. ‘Ten seconds of firm pressure in just the right place and you lose consciousness,’ he said, then waited while everyone else waited to see if he might just collapse himself right there in open court. He did not. He continued, ‘Once Mrs. Duffy passed out, her killer kept pressing, firmer and firmer, and sixty seconds later she was dead. There are no signs of a struggle—no broken fingernails, no scratches, nothing. Why? Because Mrs. Duffy knew the man who killed her.”’
The narrator mentions Mrs. Duffy’s time of death. “The autopsy placed her time of death around eleven forty-five.”
The prosecutor reiterates that Mr. Duffy did in fact kill his wife. “The mere fact that a good lawyer kept saying that Mr. Duffy killed his wife made his theory sound believable.”
The prosecutor mentions Mrs. Duffy’s death once more at the end of his opening statement. ‘“This was a cold-blooded murder, ladies and gentlemen. Perfectly planned and carefully executed. Not a hitch. No witnesses, no evidence left behind. Nothing but a lovely young woman brutally chocked to death.’”
In pet court, someone demands to have a snake destroyed. ‘“Can’t you order it destroyed?’ ‘You want the death penalty for Herman?’ ‘Why not? There are children in our building.’ ‘Seems kind of harsh,’ Judge Yeck said. It was obvious he was not going to order the death of Herman.”
In pet court, Judge Yeck threatens to destroy all of the defendant’s pet snakes if they escape again. ‘“If Herman escapes again, or if your snakes are caught outside of your apartment, then I have no choice but to order them destroyed. All of them. Clear enough?'”
In pet court, tempers fly and a pet snake is threatened. “‘I swear I’ll kill him. Should’ve killed him this time, but I wasn’t thinking. And, I didn’t have an ax.'”
Theo thinks about the blood, or lack thereof, at the murder scene. “There was no blood at the scene, right? So there would be no traces of blood on the gloves.”
Theo thinks about hair possibly being the proof that he needs to prove Mr. Duffy’s guilt. “A strand of hair would be even more proof that her husband killed her.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Mr. Boone smokes. “Mr. Boone smoked a pipe, and preferred to do so with the windows closed and the ceiling fan off so that their air was thick with the rich aroma of whatever flavored tobacco he happened to favor that day. The smoke didn’t bother Theo either, though he did worry about his father’s health.”
April’s parents were arrested on drug charges. “Both her parents had been arrested on drug charges, though neither had served time.”
Theo’s father mentions the consequences that would result from him missing school to watch the trial and makes a reference to alcohol. ‘“I will not bail you out of jail. You’ll sit there for days with common drunks and gang members.”’
Theo mentions how dangerous the neighborhood is where his friend’s brother lives. “The Quarry was a rough part of town where the lower income people lived. Strattenburg was a safe city, but there was an occasional shooting or a drug bust, and these always seemed to happen around The Quarry.”
Theo’s uncle has a drinking problem. “Ike drank too much, and this unfortunate habit made for slow mornings. Over the years, Theo had heard adults whispering about Ike’s drinking. Elsa had once asked Vince a question dealing with Ike, and Vince replied with a curt, ‘maybe if he’s sober.’”
Theo jokingly asks his uncle for a beer; “Ike opened a small refrigerator on the floor behind his desk. ‘I have Budweiser and Sprite.’ ‘Budweiser,’ Theo said. Ike gave him a Sprite and popped the top of a can of Bud for himself.”
Theo’s classmate, Woody, has a brother who was arrested for drug possession and distribution. “‘What’s the charge?’ ‘Drugs. Possession of pot, maybe distribution.’ ‘There’s a big difference between possession and distribution.’ ‘Can you help us?’ ‘I doubt it. How old is he?’ ‘Seventeen.’ Theo knew the brother by reputation, and it was not a good one. ‘First offense?’ Theo asked, though he suspected the answer was no. ‘He got busted for possession last year, his first. Slap on the wrist.’ ‘Your parents need to hire a lawyer, Woody. It’s that simple.’ ‘Nothing’s simple. My parents don’t have the money, and if they did they wouldn’t spend it on a lawyer. There’s a war in my house, Theo. Kids against parents, and nobody’s taking prisoners. My stepfather has been fighting with my brother over the drug thing, and he’s promised a thousand times he will not get involved when the cops bust him.’”
Theo is watching the trial from a secret spot when he sees someone smoking. “Theo froze and got a whiff of something burning. The man was smoking a cigarette, which was against the rules because they were still inside the building. He blew a huge cloud, then stepped onto the landing. It was Omar Cheepe, visible now with his massive slick head and black eyes. He looked up at Theo, said nothing, then turned and walked away. Theo did not know if he had been followed, or if the stairwell was one of Omar’s smoking places. There were cigarettes everywhere. Maybe others sneaked down there for a smoke.”
A group of teenagers is seen smoking. “A gang of young teenagers loitered about, all smoking and trying to look tough.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

God is mentioned at the beginning of the trial. ‘“Let all who have matters come forth. May God bless this court.”’
Theo’s friend, Julio, tells Theo how his cousin prays for his family; ‘“He finished his lunch and was saying his prayers for his family when the man came out of the same door.”’
Once again, Julio’s cousin is said to pray for his family. ‘“Our man liked to sneak away from the others, eat by himself, say his prayers, and look at a photo of his family back home.”’

13 Treasures

Tanya can see fairies—evil fairies who want to keep their existence secret. When Tanya writes about the fairies in her diary, they come to punish her. They pinch her, rouse her from her sleep, and cast spells on her. Tanya’s strange behavior can’t be ignored or explained, and her mother isn’t sure what to do. In an effort to get Tanya to behave, her mother sends her to Elvesden Manor, her grandmother’s secluded estate.

In the hopes of learning more about how to protect herself from the fairies, Tanya sneaks into her grandmother’s library. Soon Tanya is mixed up in a fifty-year-old mystery of a missing girl. But as Tanya tries to unravel the mysteries of her second sight, she soon discovers that there is more to the fairy realm that she first believed. And if she is not careful, she may be pulled into the fairy world and never be able to return home.

Right from the start, 13 Treasures creates suspense as the fairies attack Tanya. Tanya struggles to keep the fairies secret (or they will seek revenge) but also explain her strange behavior. When Tanya is sent to her grandmother’s house, no one is particularly glad to see her, except Fabian the care keeper’s son. The tension in the house creates suspense. The evil fairies, the unwelcoming grandmother, and the string of missing children all lead to a creepy mystery. However, Tanya proves to be a compassionate, plucky heroine that befriends a goblin.

13 Treasures is full of fairy lore, strange creatures, and complicated characters who add interest to the story. Younger children will enjoy having a few scares that don’t leave them frightened. Even though the story is written for 8-12-year-olds, the language and the long descriptive passages may be difficult for some children.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

When Tanya writes about the fairies in her diary, they come into her room and warn her to stop. One fairy makes Tanya float in the air and turn somersaults. Then, she is dropped and crashes to the floor.
When a goblin tells Tanya too much information, the other goblins beat him. “The goblin howled as Toadface drove a heavy fist into his stomach . . . The bruised goblin was left weeping in a heap on the ground. He had sustained several cuts to his face and was bleeding profusely, his lower lip split and swollen.”
When Warwick sneaks up and grabs Tanya’s shoulder, she kicks him in the shin.
When Tanya and Fabian try to go into the woods, a raven attacks Fabian. “It hooked onto the back of Fabian’s mud-drenched clothes with long, black talons, and began a frenzied attack on the back of his head.”
A drain dweller grabs Tanya’s wrist, trying to rip off a bracelet. As Tanya struggles to get the drain dweller to let go of her, it bites her. “She felt, rather than saw, the blood running down her arm and dripping from her elbow.” When the drain dweller gets the bracelet, it runs out the door and is eaten by the cat. “The creature did not scream when the cat’s claws found their target, or even whimper as the broken, aged teeth clamped down on its windpipe for the kill.”
In order for a human to escape the fairy realm, they must have another to take their place. Tanya is tied to a tree with spider twine so she can be forced to go into the fairy realm.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

When Fabian sees a drain dweller he yells, “And what the hell is that?”

Supernatural

There are fairies, goblins, and other creatures.
Tanya has the second sight because someone in her family was switched with a changeling. “The second sight comes from having fairy blood.”
A gypsy who lives in the woods is said to be able to see into the past. The gypsy gives Tanya a compass that will show the direction of her home.
The fairies threaten to use rosemary that grows in the piskies’ domains to wipe Tanya’s memory.
Fabian believes that a girl he saw in the woods could be a ghost. “Maybe she’s trying to tell us that he did kill her all those years ago. Maybe she can’t move on until justice is done.”
The fairies use a glamour to disguise a fairy child that was switched with a human child. One of the characters is afraid the glamour will wear off and the baby would be, “put under observation in a laboratory somewhere—analyzed, poked, prodded, and experimented on.”
Tanya is told that she must destroy anything that the fairies could use to control her. “Blood. Saliva. Fingernail and toenail clippings. Teeth. All the stories of witchcraft, of people being controlled by a witch in possession of a lock of their hair or a tooth—it all stems from the truth. You don’t leave anything to chance.”
Tanya is given a potion to rub on Fabian’s eyes so he can see the fairies.

Spiritual Content

None

Audacity Jones To The Rescue

Audacity Jones doesn’t complain about being raised in Miss Maisie’s School for Wayward Girls. Audacity’s life isn’t full of adventure, but she has friends and a clever cat named Miniver. When Audacity is sent to the Punishment Room, which is often, she finds plenty of books to fill her time.

When Commodore Crutchfield visits the school seeking an orphan, Audacity volunteers to go on a secret mission to Washington D.C. Soon, Audacity begins to question the Commodore’s intentions. As she tries to discover the Commodore’s true mission, she meets interesting new people that help her along the way.

Audacity is a plucky, optimistic heroine, who is full of adventure. When circumstances are bleak, Audacity keeps her wits and looks at the bright side of things. The story weaves the girls from Miss Maisie’s School into Audacity’s story, which highlights the friendships Audacity left behind.

The historical novel will give readers a glimpse of life in the 1800s as well as a peek inside President Grant’s life. Audacity Jones to the Rescue is an interesting story with unique characters that add to the book’s enjoyment. Although the story is easy to read, the detailed descriptions and lack of action at the beginning of the story may make it difficult for some readers to make it to the end of the book. However, the action and suspense pick up at the end of the story and leave the reader with a satisfying conclusion.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Audie faints when turtles are being made into soup.
Dorothy, the niece of the president, is drugged and kidnapped. The kidnappers tie her hands but do not hurt her.

Drugs and Alcohol

When Audie is worried that Mrs. Finch will “be cross,” another character tells Audie not to worry because she has “poured her a lovely glass of sherry.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

One of the characters mentions a reverend who advises people to “pray but swing the hammer.”
A character wonders, “Why did God make girls anyway? Total waste of time as far as he could see.”

The Accused

Pete Duffy’s murder trial is about to begin; however, when Duffy disappears the night before his trial, the town wonders where Duffy went. Theo was hoping to follow Duffy’s trial, but when strange men begin following him and the police accuse him of robbery, Theo becomes consumed with finding out who has it in for him.

Because Theodore tells his own story, the reader has the opportunity to feel Theo’s confusion and fear, which helps to build suspense. As the story progresses, the suspense is created in a way that will allow younger readers to be interested but not frightened.

The Accused has surprises, humor, and positive adult-child relationships. The story is easy to read and the engaging mystery will appeal to both younger and older readers. Although this book is part of the Theodore Boone series, The Accused can be enjoyed without having read the previous books in the series.

The only downside is Theo’s Uncle Ike, who convinces Theo to steal the password to his parents’ case files. Afterward, Theo feels guilty and wants to tell his parents. However, Ike convinces him not to because it’s not dishonest to not tell. Ike continues rationalizing dishonesty by saying, “We all have our little secrets, and as long as they’re harmless, who really cares? With time, the secrets often go away and things don’t matter anymore.”

Sexual Content

None

Violence

The plot discusses the trial of Pete Duffy who is accused of murder. Some boys in Theo’s class discuss the disappearance of Pete Duffy. “Another had Pete Duffy murdered by drug lords.”
Someone throws a rock through a window and almost hits Theo.
Several boys at school get into a fight, including Theo. “Woody lunged with a right hook that landed perfectly on Baxter’s face. Baxter, to his credit, managed to land a solid punch before both boys locked each other in death grips and tumbled to the floor.”
Ike tells a story about when he was younger and was being bullied. He filled his lunch pail with rocks. “He was about to punch me when I suddenly swung the lunch box and hit him in the face. Hard. I mean it was a nasty blow that cut a gash in his cheekbone. He screamed and fell down and I whacked him a few more times in the head.” At the end of the story, Ike says, “I should have used my fists and nothing else.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Theo’s uncle drinks beer. “Theo knew he drank too much . . . Two or three times he had picked up on comments that suggested Ike Boone struggled with the bottle, and Theo assumed this was true. However, he had never witnessed it.”
Theo thinks about “Spike Hock, a kid who lived one block away and was caught selling drugs in the ninth grade and spent eighteen very unpleasant months in a juvenile detention center. . .”
Theo thinks about a family because the sister was “arrested for drugs.”
A boy in the story “was caught with marijuana and went through Youth Court.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

At church, the pastor’s sermon expands on the eighth commandment. The pastor talks about how it is wrong to steal, including “stealing time away from God, family, friends. Stealing the gift of good health by pursuing bad habits. Stealing from the future by missing opportunities in the present.”

The Trap

You would think Henry and Helen would be two peas in a pod. After all, they are twins. But Helen is brave and fearless, while Henry must think everything through. Despite their clear differences, they, along with their best friends Carl and Nicki, are inseparable.

When Carl’s brother mysteriously disappears, the four friends go on a mission to figure out what happened. Their search leads them to a book called Subtle Travel and the Subtle Self, which explains how a person can leave their body in their sleep. As the four friends learn to travel, they quickly discover that their subtle self isn’t invulnerable when Henry’s subtle self gets trapped. His friends want to jump in and save him, but will that lead to more disaster?

Teens and preteens alike will enjoy The Trap because it is fast-paced and easy to read. This story contains a good mystery, a bit of the supernatural, as well as a bit of humor.

The Trap touches on racial issues of the 1960’s but doesn’t go into detail. The only negative part of this book is that Henry and Helen have no qualms about lying to their parents in order to solve the mystery. There is also a section in the book where Helen reveals that she likes to break into people’s houses because it’s interesting to look around.

The Trap shows the importance of understanding people of different cultures. It has a sweet ending that will leave readers satisfied.

Sexual Content

Henry and Nicki go to a school dance in their subtle forms. As they dance, Henry “leaned forward and kissed her. A subtle kiss is a strange thing. It’s slippery, and a little electric, and it buzzes on your lips.”

Violence

Carl punches Henry. “Carl’s big knuckles had come at me, his pimply face looming behind them . . . My nose and cheek backed up—right into my brain, and my brain retreated down my throat into my stomach. My stomach hadn’t expected that, and become upset.” Henry pukes, and Henry’s sister jumps on Carl.
A character talks about the Jews being killed during World War II. “They were murdered . . . I returned once, years after the war, to see the graveyard where my parents and grandparents were buried. It is all weeds now. There are no Jews left to care for their own dead.”
One of the children talks about her great-grandfather who worked on the Transcontinental Railroad. “And in Iowa, he got attached by an Irish railroad gang. They mobbed him and some other Chinese workers, saying that Chinese people were stealing Irish jobs. They almost killed him, and he ended up in the hospital in Cedar Rapids.”
In a TV show, the Devil tells a rich man he can live forever if he murdered two other people. The rich man finds two “bums drunk.” The rich man did not think those men deserved to live as much as he did. So the rich man puts rat poison in a bottle of whiskey, “intending to give it to the hoboes. Then the show took a commercial break.”
Henry’s dad talks about when he was in the war. When they heard shots, everyone ran, but one man got shot. “Lying out there on his back, in the street. And making a sound, like gargling . . . because they shot him . . . in the throat . . . The North Koreans . . . they went up to Davis. And I watched . . . as they. ..They stripped him. They took his gun, his belt. Jacket. Helmet. Boots. Right off him, while he was still trying to breathe. They took everything. And they left him there, naked in the street. He died there.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Carl’s father is disliked because he is a drunk. The father appears several times in the story and is seen drinking beer on multiple occasions.

Language

One of the adults complains about, “this damn back of mine.”

Supernatural

Henry finds a book that teaches him how a person, “could step right out of their body while their body was sleeping. You’d be yourself, but invisible. This was called ‘subtle travel.’ The part of you that did the walking, your second body, was called ‘the subtle form.’”
A ghost appears and helps Henry solve the mystery of what happened to Carl.
When Carl was in his subtle form, someone did something to his physical body. Carl isn’t sure if his body is alive or dead, and he is afraid if he goes back into his body he will die.

Spiritual Content

None

The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate

The fifth installment of the Princess in Black series is just as fun as the previous books. When Princess Magnolia heads into the city for a playdate, a monster follows the princess because she smells like a goat. As the two princesses play, the monster tries to eat someone’s pet kitty. Princess Magnolia jumps in to help, but when she arrives, the monster has disappeared. Will a new hero be able to help Princess Magnolia find the monster?

The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate takes a humorous look at what it takes to be a hero, “Step 1: Wear a disguise. Step 2: Ride a brave, masked beast. 3. Do lots of cool ninja moves.” Readers will enjoy seeing the princess in blankets, Princess Sneezewort, figure out if she can be a hero princess. As the princesses look for the monster, the monster finds creative hiding places that make looking for him a fun part of the story. The Goat Avenger has very little action in the story and his presence is missed.

The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate is an excellent book for beginning readers. Fun illustrations appear on almost every page to help readers visualize the story’s actions. The chapters are short with easy-to-understand language. The monster in the story is more humorous than scary. If you’re looking for a high-energy, enjoyable book with strong girl characters, then The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate should be added to your reading list.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A hungry monster wants to eat goats but cannot find any. Instead, he tries to get a pet kitten. “EAT PETS!” the monster said. The princess tells him he cannot eat pets, so he asks “EAT YOU?” When the monster pounces, “the monster got tangled in one of her (the princess’s) blankets.” The princess in black shows up and helps take down the monster with a “playtime romp, karaoke jam, and snack-time stomp, and a unicorn ram.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation

After a night of keeping goats safe from monsters, the Princess in Black is exhausted. All she wants to do is take a nap. Then a new hero, the Goat Avenger, offers to watch over the goats so the Princess in Black can take a vacation. With the Goat Avenger keeping the goats safe, Princess Magnolia goes to the seaside, hoping to get some much-needed sleep. Just when Princess Magnolia curls up in her hammock, she hears a “Roar.” Soon people are running from a giant sea monster. Will Princess Magnolia ever get the sleep she needs?

Even though the story revolves around the Princess in Black needing a nap, the storyline is fast-paced and engaging. The story goes back and forth between the Princess in Black’s experience and the Goat Avenger, which adds interest and humor. The battles are reminiscent of the classic Batman and Robin comics with onomatopoeias that make the story even more fun.

The Princess in Black Takes A Vacation is an excellent book for beginning readers. Fun illustrations appear on almost every page to help readers visualize the story’s actions. The chapters are short with easy to understand language. If you’re looking for a high-energy, enjoyable book with a strong female character, then The Princess in Black Takes A Vacation should be added to your reading list.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

The Princess in Black “wages battle” against a “toothy monster” that wants to eat goats. The pictures show the action, “Sluggish swing! Double Dozy, Doozy Fling!”
A sea monster appears at a beach and wants to eat people. “People dropped ice pops in the sand . . . ‘EAT PEOPLE!’ roared the sea monster. “PEOPLE YUM!” Princess Magnolia climbs onto the sea monster and tells him “Sea Monster, you may not eat people.” After a short battle, she convinces him to eat fish instead.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Ghost Attack

When Alex and his cousin Sarah visit their grandparents, they don’t expect to find a ghost. Alex gets terrible red hives every time a mysterious ghost is near. Even though Alex screams every time the ghost appears, the ghost persists in showing up. Alex and Sarah decide to delve into Thistle’s Fall’s history to find out who the persistent ghost is and how they can help him.

Full of humor, Ghost Attack has a suspenseful plot that will keep readers interested. The easy-to-read story has many good aspects—a loving family, a lesson about making assumptions, and lively squirrels. David Lubar weaves mystery and ghosts into a non-scary story that is fun to read. Readers will be eager to pick up the next book in the series—Monster Itch #2: Vampire Trouble.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

None

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

Ghosts haunt Thistle’s Falls. “There were railroad brakeman ghosts, tragic romance ghosts, stranded pioneer ghosts, and pretty much every other kind of ghost you could imagine.”

Spiritual Content

None

Vampire Trouble

Alex hopes to win the kickball home-run record. When a new playground monitor appears, Alex begins to sneeze—great, big sneezes that make it impossible to kick the ball. Alex realizes that he’s allergic to the new playground monitor. Alex and his cousin Sara set out to discover what type of monster the new monitor is and how they can make her go away.

Although Vampire Trouble is not as suspenseful or humorous as the first book in the series, there is still a lot to like about the story. The plot is interesting and revolves around kickball. In the end, Alex learns that sportsmanship is more important than winning. Another positive aspect of the story is how the cousins in Vampire Trouble work together to find a solution to Alex’s monster allergy problem. In order to uncover the truth about vampires, they think like scientists, and through their search, readers will learn that not everything that is on the internet is true.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A boy hits Alex with a ball. “As I walked away, the ball smacked the back of my head with a loud POING!”
The vampire, who has rats that hang around her, threatens Alex and Sara. She tells them, “They will chase you off. And then a picture burst into my mind. I could see the rats leaping towards me.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

A vampire is a playground monitor at Alex’s school. Rats hang around the vampire.
The vampire can communicate by talking into people’s minds. When she communicates with Alex, “The words drifted into my mind, echoing like it had been spoken in a tomb.”

Spiritual Content

None

Wallace and Grace and the Lost Puppy

Wallace and Grace, best friends and partners in the Night Owl Detective Agency, stumble upon a lost puppy. In an effort to get the puppy home, Wallace and Grace must follow the clues to find out where the puppy lives. With the help of his new friends, the puppy learns about forest animals.

Younger readers will love reading the story of Wallace and Grace. Cute, charming pictures bring the forest alive. The story is engaging and teaches new vocabulary because Grace uses “very big words” and then explains what they mean. The story teaches problem-solving skills and has a lesson at the end: some things are more important than winning.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

None

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Inspector Flytrap

A Venus flytrap makes an unlikely detective in the first book of the Inspector Flytrap series. Inspector Flytrap solves big deal mysteries, with his assistant Nina the Goat. On his first case, Inspector Flytrap is called in to figure out what the strange blob is on Da Vinci’s flower painting.

Over the course of the story, Inspector Flytrap is called upon to discover “The Big Deal Mystery of the Stinky Cookies” and “The Big Deal Mystery of the Missing Rose.” As he investigates the clues, he has to keep Nina from eating them.

Inspector Flytrap is full of illustrations that bring the animal characters to life. The silly storyline and funny antics of Inspector Flytrap and his assistant will engage readers.

Sexual Content

When Nina the Goat meets another goat, she said, “William, you are the goat I have dreamed of all my life. Let me kiss you! Kissy-kissy smooch-smooch!”

Violence

Inspector Flytrap and Nina the Goat flee from an angry mob. They escape the mob when they crash into a restaurant. “We crashed into his kitchen. Pots and pans and goats and skateboards and linguini went everywhere.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Inspector Flytrap in The President’s Mane Is Missing

Welcome to Inspector Flytrap’s Detective Agency, home to the world-renowned solver of BIG DEAL mysteries. Inspector Flytrap, a Venus flytrap, works tirelessly with his assistant Nina the Goat, on unsolved cases. Inspector Flytrap is looking for a thrilling mystery to solve. When the President of the United States calls, Inspector Flytrap thinks he has found his mystery.

When the president of the United States Horse G. Horse unveils a huge statue of himself, a huge fly from outer space attacks the city. Detective Flytrap tries to solve the mystery as he assistant Nina eats everything in sight. This story is random and wacky with turkey reporters, talking plants, and a huge space alien fly. This story combines illustrations with humor to create a book for early-chapter readers.

Inspector Flytrap in The President’s Mane Is Missing contains bathroom humor. In the beginning of the book, people keep asking Inspector Flytrap about his bathroom habits. His assistant Nina gets to the top of Horse G. Horse’s statue through an elevator in the horse’s butt. In addition, Inspector Flytrap solves the mystery when he realizes the giant fly has been attracted to Earth because the fly expects the giant horse statue to create “giant poopee.”

Sexual Content

Inspector Flytrap makes plans to have a date and his girlfriend says, “I want to do a lot of kissing tonight.”

Violence

A giant fly is destroying the city’s monuments and causing havoc. “Two of its massive legs—each as big as a telephone pole—reached down and grabbed the two taxicabs.”
A goat eats part of a statue and causes it to crash to the ground. “First it crushed the Capitol Building, then the art museum . . . and lastly, the White House. My statue was no more . . . and the nation’s capital was in ruin.”
A goat partly eats the statue of President Horse. “The enormous rear end of the giant horse fell backwards and crashed on top of the presidential limousine. It landed so hard that the ground shook like we were having an earthquake.”
A furious mob chases after Detective Flytrap. He races off on his skateboard and finds a place to hide.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Eva Sees a Ghost

After Eva Wingdale’s teacher tells the class a spooky story, Eva sees a ghost flying through the air. When Eva tells her friend, no one believes her. Eva and her class go on a ghost hunt, but the ghost does not appear. Can this determined little owl prove that there is a ghost in Teutopolis?

Eva uses problem-solving skills as she tries to prove the ghost is real. Through Eva’s story, younger readers will be reminded of the difference between what is imaginary and what is real. Eva Sees a Ghost is a fun ghost story written specifically for newly independent readers. Bright and colorful pictures illustrate every page. The ghost in the story is shown as just a white blur (and turns out to be a snowy owl). The text is easy to read and has a simple plot.

Sexual Content