Thursday, October 18, 2018

Brainstorm 156: Timely books to reread now

Today we have some timely rereads for you. Some readers feel like they have to apologize for rereading a book, but there is nothing wrong with reading something a second, third, or thirtieth time. Often you see things in rereads that you missed the first time, or parts will hit you in new ways as you are at a experiencing a different point in life during the reread. If you're like me and have a to-read pile that threatens to topple over and seriously injure you, sometimes you need a good excuse to reread a book. Well, here are some books with great excuses to reread, or read for the first time. Whether you want to get the jump on rereading a favorite before it gets a new sequel or prequel, or if you want to celebrate momentous anniversaries with a reread. Here are some books to consider.


Picture Book


The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The classic story of a VERY hungry little caterpillar and all the food he eats in a week.

Target Readers:

  • Kids Learning Days of the Week/Butterfly & Caterpillar Fans/Humor Fans: Eric Carle’s classic will turn 50 in 2019. Keep an eye out for special activities related to the celebration and anniversary copies. And of course, it is a perfect excuse to reread a childhood favorite.


Middle Grade Fiction


Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
The series about mastermind criminal turned reluctant hero for fairyland.
Note: Some violence.

Target Readers:

  • Fantasy Fans/Complex Character Fans/Fantasy & Mythical Creatures Fans/Movie Adaptation Lovers: Look for these books to get a resurgence in popularity will be rising in popularity. They’re getting new covers soon. And after ages and ages of just talking about making the books into a movie, 2019 will finally see Artemis hit the big screen. And then in 2020 Artemis’ twin brothers will be getting their own spin-off series. As of right now, the first book in that series is titled The Fowl Twins.


Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Levine’s fairy tale rewrite about a girl cursed to do what everyone tells her.

Target Readers:

  • Fairy Tale Lovers/Fantasy Fans: Levine’s prequel to this tale was just released this past Tuesday. So reread Ella’s story and then see if you can find yourself a copy of Ogre Enchanted. I know I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Levine’s writing is always masterful.


Young Adult & Adult Fiction


The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld
This futuristic dystopian series that explores themes about self-acceptance, identity, and the meaning of true beauty in a world where everyone modifies their appearance and bodies to be “perfect” and lives for popularity.
Note: Some violence.

Target Readers:

  • Dystopia Fans/Scifi Fans/Fans of Books with Topics That Make You Think: After over a decade of being a completed series, Westerfeld is adding another four books to this world starting with Impostors which was just released.


Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs
A series of books about children with special abilities who are caught up in an epic battle between forces. My best description for this series is time travel adventures with X-men-like characters based on weird old photographs the author scrounged up.
Note: Some language and violence.

Target Readers:

  • Time Travel Fans/Superhero Fans/Epic Adventure Fans: After a several year lull this popular series is also getting new books starting with the recently released Map of Days.


Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The classic tale of Dr. Frankenstein who uses parts of human remains to create a man, and when the lonely creature demands a companion and the doctor refuses, starts to act more monstrous.

Target Readers:

  • Dark and Moody Book Fans/Fans of Books That Explore Death and Life/Classic Fans: Shelley’s classic turned 200 this year. I personally found it a bit too depressing and moody for my tastes, but I know others who love this tale. There have been tons and tons of rewrites of Frankenstein released this year or books about Mary Shelley (both nonfiction and fictional).


Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The classic story of four sisters growing up in Civil War era New England and figuring out how they fit in the world.

Target Readers:

  • Sister Story Fans/Historical Romance Fans/Classic Fans: Alcott’s classic story turned 150 years old this year.


Nonfiction Graphic Novel


Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales) by Nathan Hale
Hale
Nathan Hale gives a broad sweeping overview of the Great War with different animals representing each country. Due to the grand scheme of the tale, Hale only focuses on the main things that led to war and the most important battles.

Target Readers:

  • History Lovers/Graphic Novel Fans/Summary Fans/WWI Buffs: November 2018 will celebrate 100 years since the cease of fighting of WWI. If you want a book that boils down this very complex conflict into terms that make it easier to understand, Hale’s book does that extremely well.


Thursday, October 11, 2018

Brainstorm 155: Realistic & Historical Mysteries for a Variety of Readers

This week, as promised, I have some realistic and historical mysteries for you. And yes, that historical encompasses both historical fiction and true crime. If you want more mystery reading ideas, check out last week’s fantasy and scifi mystery recommendations which includes links to past mystery Brainstorm posts too. Without further ado, here are some books to read with your sleuthing cap on curled up in your favorite thinking spot.

Picture Books


The Troublemaker by Lauren Castillo
After kidnapping his sister's bunny while playing pirate, a little boy finds himself again accused of taking the toy but this time he didn't do it. Then his own raccoon toy goes missing. Who is the real troublemaker?

Target Readers:

  • Little Sleuths/Kids Practicing Their Observation Skills/Readers Working on Predicting Skills/Realistic Story Fans: This is light "mystery" for little kids. Careful observers of the illustrations will be able to figure out the true troublemaker. This would be a fantastic book for practicing making predictions. I was totally wrong in my predictions of who the troublemaker was from the cover and opening pages, and had to revise my predictions. 
  • Adults Wanting to Help Kids Realize Character Matters/Art Lovers: This is also a good book to use when talking about character and how our actions of the past can impact how people trust us in the future. As always, Lauren Castillo's illustrations are adorable and wonderful. 


The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg
An alphabet book that prompts readers to use the picture to predict what the text will be on the back of the page. The clue is in the illustration and based on the letter being emphasized.

Target Readers:

  • Little Sleuths/Kids Practicing Their Observation Skills/Readers Working on Predicting Skills/Vocabulary Builders/Alliteration Practicers/Alphabet Book Fans: A great book for practicing predictions, interpreting illustrations, learning about alliteration, and using context for clues. Some of the words are a little fancy, such as warped, and may introduce new vocabulary to kids.


Lower Grade Fiction


Jasmine Toguchi Super Sleuth (Jasmine Toguchi, #2) by Debbi Michiko Florence, ill. by Elizabet Vukovic
Jasmine is super excited that her best friend, Linnie, is going to spend the night and celebrate Girl's Day with Jasmine, her mom, and her sister Sophie. But then Linnie and Jasmine have a fight. Sophie says she's too old for Girl's Day, and Jasmine gets in trouble for making a mess at Mrs. Reese's. Jasmine thought she was a pretty good sleuth, but she can't figure out what happened with Linnie, what's going on with Sophie, or why Mrs. Reese has all those clothes in her garage.

Target Readers:

  • Japanese Culture Fans/Great Friendship Story Fans/Realistic Fiction Fans/Light Mystery Fans: I liked this Jasmine Toguchi story even better than the first. This series is not a mystery series, but this one has several mysteries for Jasmine to figure out. Learning about the Japanese Girl's Day celebration was a nice culture touch. Seeing Jasmine figure out how she hurt Linnie and then work to fix their relationship was a great model for the target readers. And it was fun to watch Jasmine figure out what's going on with Sophie and the mystery of Mrs. Reese's garage. Some great messages about being responsible and sensitive to others' feelings with a fun and unique cultural twist.


The Mystery of the Gold Coin (Greetings from Somewhere, #1) by Harper Paris, ill. by Marcos Calo
When Ella and Ethan find out their mom has a new job with her paper to write stories while traveling around the world, they aren't exactly thrilled about the prospect. They love their town and don't want to move. Their grandfather gives them each a going away present, Ella gets a journal and Ethan gets a gold coin with a globe on one side and an eagle on the other. But somehow in their Saturday tasks around town, Ethan loses the coin. They must quickly revisit their tracks on Sunday to hunt down his coin and along the way get to say goodbye to a town and people they love.

Target Readers:

  • Realistic Fiction Fans/Mystery Fans/Twin Story Fans/Travel Fans: While this book just sees the twins dealing with the prospect of moving, the rest of the series sees them traveling all over the world. So arm chair travelers should love this series. The mystery was something that seemed like 2nd graders would actually be able to solve, and dealing with a move is a relatable issues for many readers. And those who like stories about twins will snatch this one up.


Middle Grade Fiction


Click Here to Start by Denis Markell
When Ted's great Uncle Ted dies and leaves him anything in his apartment with a hint there's treasure in there, Ted is a teensy bit excited. However, when he, his best friend, and the new girl show up to start cleaning, they find a bunch of junk. Ted is rather disappointed...until he gets on his computer that night to play a new escape game and it looks just like Uncle Ted's apt. The next day, Ted decides to treat the room like the game, and sure enough, there are hidden surprises. Ted and his friends are off on one crazy scavenger hunt that starts to get dangerous. Someone else also wants Uncle Ted's treasure, badly.

Target Readers:

  • Mystery Fans/Scavenger Hunt Fans: This was an exciting read. Those who enjoy scavenger hunt stories with clues to figure out won’t be able to put it down. Once they were on the hunt, it also kept up a pretty good pace and got more and more exciting as you realized that someone else was out there looking too. The action and adventure were balanced out with interpersonal relationships between the three kids, and all of them have their own issues and growing to do through the experience. 
  • Biracial Character Fans/WWII History Buffs: For those looking for biracial kids in books, Ted is half Japanese American half Caucasian. I enjoyed the way the author worked in that Uncle Ted's was part of the Japanese American WWII division that accomplished amazing feats, giving kids a little historical info along with the fun. The Monuments Men also show up, and I really liked that this introduced the kids to them.


Home Sweet Motel (Welcome to Wonderland, #1) by Chris Grabenstein, ill. by Brooke Allen
Walt Wilkie opened his Wonderland Motel just a few years before another Walt invaded Florida. Wilkie was hoping to make his hotel THE destination for fun in the sun. But that other Walt quickly outdid the Wonderland. The motel has been barely scraping by for decades, but that doesn't mean they will just roll over and give up when the bank comes calling for a ridiculous payment on a loan. Walt's grandson P.T. is determined to make the Wonderland great again and get that loan paid off in time. It's going to take all his creative juices, the business smarts of new guest Gloria, the loose wallets of tourists on spring break, Grandpa's special charm, and possibly some treasure hunting skills to pull it off.

Target Readers:

  • Mystery Fans/Humor Fans/Realistic Fiction Fans/Read Aloud Fans/Reluctant Readers: Grabenstein is the Shakespeare of the modern middle grade novel. He is a master at spinning a story middle graders will eat up and finish hungry for more. There's just the right voice to make the characters likable but quirky and certainly memorable. There's just the right touches of humor and intrigue so it is exciting but not so nerve-wracking you're scared to turn the page. And there's just enough puzzle to keep you guessing but not so much that you can't figure it out slightly before or right with the main characters. Oh, and he manages to make it something that will appeal to both boys and girls. (Not always an easy task in contemporary fiction.) A spring break Florida story, a family in tough financial circumstances, and a 30 year old unsolved jewel heist doesn't exactly naturally go together, but Grabenstein definitely makes it work. And it's a fun and fast read. Brooke Allen's illustrations throughout are perfect additions too. This would be a great pick for those tough reluctant readers or as a read aloud that will appeal to a broad audience (but make sure you have some way to show the illustrations too).


The Matchstick Castle by Keir Graff
Brian is thinking he just might be in danger of dying of boredom in Boring, Illinois this summer. His dad finally got cleared to go to Antarctica to use the telescope, so Brian finds all his summer plans ruined. He's now stuck with his boring Aunt & Uncle and cousin Nora in Boring, Illinois. His Uncle is making Brian and Nora test his School's Fun summer school online program. There's no one to play soccer with, and Nora's idea of fun during free time is to write in her notebook. Things start to look a bit more exciting when Brian chases his soccer ball into the woods and discovers a very strange house harboring a most unusual family next door, and it just might be up to Brian and Nora to save them from destruction.

Target Readers:

  • Imaginative Kids/Wacky House Fans/Adventure Fans/Read Aloud Fans/Mystery Fans: What kid doesn't dream of wandering into the woods and finding a weird and wonderful house to explore? The wild house full of unexpected building patterns and adventures and an eccentric family is like a mashup of Castle Glower and Mrs Piggle-Wiggle's upside down house, with a family of Pippi Longstocking plus the Potts family in the movie version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. There's a bit of hyperbole going on which may go over the heads of some middle grade readers and may turn off other readers (just don't take things too seriously). But the adventures through a wacky house to do things like find a missing uncle or defend the castle from demolition should appeal to the vast majority and would make a great middle grade read aloud.


Peeled by Joan Bauer
Hildy Biddle wants the truth, but the truth is hard to find in the little apple valley of Banesville. Strange things are supposedly going on in the old Ludlow house, a house with a history for dark happenings and unsolved mysteries. Suddenly, more and more people are reporting ghost sightings at the old Ludlow place, painted signs warning about danger keep popping up, and a dead man is found on the property. Fear starts to grip Banesville and property values around the Ludlow place start to plummet. Kids are scared to go outside at recess, and the town starts getting strange visitors that want a glimpse of the haunted Ludlow house. The town's newspaper, The Bee, is making sure citizens are up to date on every single detail...but Hildy Biddle is a reporter herself. She has been interviewing many of the people at the heart of this issue for her own articles in the high school's newspaper, The Core, and she starts to feel like The Bee is exaggerating or even fabricating details for some reason. Why does The Bee want the people to live in fear, and why does its editor threaten to sue the high school for the questions Hildy and the rest of The Core staff are raising? Things get pretty tense and serious, but with the advice of veteran newspaper man Baker Polton and the encouragement of Ms Minska, cafe owner and WWII survivor, Hildy and her friends decide to fight for their town by searching for the truth that will conquer the fear and lies.

Target Readers:

  • Potentially Haunted House Story Fans/Mystery Fans/Plucky Journalist Fans/Fans of Characters Will to Stand up for What’s Right Despite the Odds: This is probably the easiest book to book talk. All I have to say is that they are trying to figure out if the house in town is haunted or not and readers can’t check it out fast enough. It is an excellent story that shows the power of words, the need to keep a level head and look for facts rather than get swept away in hype, and the power of the truth. Middle grade readers (and young adult readers) should like it for the blend of spookiness, mystery, wit, humor, and light clean romance. Teachers and parents should like it for the extremely important life lessons about being able to filter media sources and the example of the small town standing up to a big, conniving bully.


Young Adult & Adult Fiction


The Blackthorn Key (Blackthorn Key, #1) by Kevin Sands
There have been a string of murders in London. The king's man is finally looking into things. There are whispers that the murders have something to do with the Cult of the Archangel, but no one seems to know if the cult is real or what it's about. One thing is known, all of the victims have been brutally murdered and all of them have been apothecaries. Christopher was an orphan taken in by apothecary Benedict Blackthorn as his apprentice. Many apprentices are treated poorly, but Master Blackthorn has always been kind and has been expanding Christopher's mind with puzzles and information since he took him in. Christopher likes his position, but he can't help being a little mischievous from time to time. His curiosity frequently gets him and his best friend Tom into trouble. But he'll need all his curiosity and wit to survive when the murderer strikes too close to home, and Christopher finds himself on the run not sure whom to trust. One thing is clear, the murderer is someone inside the apothecary guild and they think Christopher has information they want. Christopher, with Tom's help, must figure out the coded message his master left him before it is too late.
Note: Click on title to see content notes.

Target Readers:

  • Puzzle & Scavenger Hunt Fans/Murder Mystery Fans/Middle Ages Buffs: A serial killer murder mystery set in the Middle Ages doesn't exactly sound like it would be a funny read, but this book definitely had its moments of getting me chuckling. There are also moments of dead seriousness too, obviously. And you get to learn a lot about the apothecaries of the Middle Ages. Those who like codes, puzzles and mysteries will also like the book because readers are given the chance to solve the puzzles and codes as Christopher does (or even before he does). Christopher has several more adventures if you like this one. A note of warning though, this is often marketed as middle grade but the murders in this are a bit grisly, so I’d argue it is more young adult.


The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
Six five-year olds disappeared from their school on the first full day of kindergarten. The tragedy rocked the small town in Florida, but no one was affected like the family members left behind. Avery's life has certainly never been the same or very full since her brother Max disappeared. Eleven years later, the kids have been given up for dead when five of them walk into town. Lucas, Scarlett, Kristen, Adam, and Sarah have returned. But much to the shock and heartbreak of Avery's family, there's no Max. The returned five have no memories from the past eleven years, and no memory of Max. What happened to them? Why return them after eleven years? Who did this? And where is Max?
Note: Some violence.

Target Readers:

  • Contemporary Fiction Fans/Those Interested in How Memory Works/Tantalizing Mystery Fans: This book is told in alternating chapters through Scarlett, Lucas, and Avery's perspectives. Some of the teens are determined to figure out what happened, while others want to pretend like nothing has happened. There are just a very few, very random clues to work with at first. So the mystery is thick. There's some very interesting stuff on memory that is worked in through the teens' visits with a memory specialist the police send them to. Altebrando did a great job of writing in different voices for each of the three point of views. In fact, she did such a good job that I liked two of them (though they're quite different), and found the third one irritating. The elusive answers to the mystery kept me tearing through the pages to find out just what happened to them.


Prelude for a Lord by Camille Elliot
When a stranger on the street asks Alethea to sell him her violin, she passes it off as a strange occurrence. But when her Aunt's house is invaded and Alethea's room turned upside down, the women decide they must find out more about this violin that Alethea was bequeathed by her music teacher. Unfortunately, the most likely help is in the form of Lord Dommick, a well-respected violinist just come to Bath who gave Alethea a cutting remark when she met him in London. Many believe the violin is not a suitable instrument for a woman and Lord Dommick is one of them, but Alethea doesn't care what others think and loves the violin. As Lord Dommick helps search for the provenance of the violin (with a spot in a famous London concert on the line) and why someone would want it, Alethea gets drawn into his own troubles. A Mr. Morris is stalking Lord Dommick's sister Clare and threatening her. And then all of them become further endangered when the would-be violin owner starts taking increasingly drastic measures. Can they figure out who wants the violin and why before anyone comes to serious harm? And can a woman who pretty much a confirmed spinster and has known nothing but hurt from the men in her life trust a man to help her, or can a man accused of being mad after his time in the war ever find love?

Target Readers:

  • Clean Regency Fans/Christian Romance Fans/Music Lovers/Mystery Fans: I was a bit afraid when I started reading this that the plot would be too tense and that things would go rather badly before there was any hope. It wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. To be sure, there are many hardships that Alethea and Lord Dommick have to face. Some are more serious than others. For example, in the middle of all this Alethea and her Aunt get saddled with the charge of a precocious tween girl who has no closer living relatives. But Margaret actually turns out to be much needed comic relief, and Alethea learns several things through trying to tame this girl. Many of the bad things that happen don't get drawn out like I had feared. Some may argue that they get out of them a little too conveniently, but the author puts it down to the Lord's intervention and how can you argue with that? (Also, most of those teach important spiritual lessons to one or more characters.) And speaking of the spiritual elements, I felt that was done well. It felt natural and realistic. Dommick is a believer from the start and occasionally his prayers are written out. Alethea has felt abandoned by God, but through a series of events and conversations starts to rethink this. Both Alethea and Dommick are quite emotionally damaged at the start of this, but it is inspiring to see their healing as the book progresses and how they are often parts of each others' healing. That helped make their growing attraction more believable. Alethea's Aunt Ebena was a surprising character who at first seems brusque and cold, but she grows on Alethea (and the reader) considerably as the book progresses and Alethea comes to understand her more. I liked the musical parts of the story, and you can tell that the author is a musician of some sort. You can't write about music like that without having some kind of personal understanding of getting wrapped up in the music you are playing. Overall, I found this to be an engaging read that felt authentically Regency period and kept me guessing as to how things would all work out in the end. 


Quick Curtain by Alan Melville
When the male lead of Douglas B. Douglas's new musical gets shot for real during a supposedly fake shooting scene in front of the opening night's audience, Scotland Yard Inspector Wilson is in the house and immediately on the case. Dealing with theater people will take all of Inspector Wilson's patience (and his journalist son/unofficial assistant Derek's too). It looks like an open and shut case, but after the funeral and inquest, several people come to Inspector Wilson with doubts and further information. Can he puzzle out the truth in a world that makes money off of lies?
Note: Click on title to see content notes.

Target Readers:

  • Humor Fans/Musical Theater Fans/Historical Mystery Fans: Anyone who can make readers bust out in laughter with a scene in which the characters do nothing but ring a doorbell has some serious comical writing skill. And Melville managed to do so. How to best summarize what Melville's writing is like? Imagine that Jerome K. Jerome had turned the wit he employed in Three Men in a Boat to write a murder mystery starring a father/son version of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore who solve crimes in mid-1900s England, and this just might be what you get. It was hilarious! I laughed out loud several times. Melville writes a cunning mystery that will keep readers guessing and satisfy the sleuthing itch, but he's not above taking some little pokes of fun at the genre (and musical theater) all along the way.


True Crime


A is for Arsenic: the Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup
Harkup looks at 14 of the poisons Agatha Christie used in her mysteries. Each chapter examines the appearance of the poison in one Christie story, the background & makeup of the poison, how the poison works on humans, any antidote known and how it works, real life murders with the poison that may have inspired Christie or even been inspired by Christie's story, and an examination of how faithful to science Christie was in her story in symptoms and time to death, etc.
Note: Technical descriptions of how some poisons kill.

Target Readers:

  • Agatha Christie Fans/Self-Avowed Nerdy Mystery Fans/True Crime Fans/Chemistry & Biology Buffs: If you want to know more about Agatha Christie the person and the writer, this book does a better job in that area than some biographies. Agatha Christie worked as a dispenser (basically a pharmacist's assistant) during WWI and WWII. Her job required her to have a good knowledge of chemistry and medicines (many of which are also poisons, it all depends on the dosage). So Christie was in a unique position to represent symptoms and chemistry in her stories accurately. Harkup even shares that some of Christie's stories were given recognition by the medical community for her accuracy. My favorite parts of this book were looking at how accurate Christie was in her stories and looking at parallels in real cases. Even though I have a good science background and I could follow all the technical parts of how the poisons worked, sometimes I found those sections on "How it Kills" of the chapters a bit dry. Those whose eyes used to glass over in biology when talking about cellular functions or in chemistry talking about how chemicals interact may want to skip the "How it Kills" section of each chapter as they are detailed and a bit technical, though Harkup does her best to break it down for the lay person (it's still more detailed than the average high school biology class, though, so I'm guessing many readers will get lost). I found this overall to be a fascinating read. I was also quite pleased that Harkup did a great job of talking about each of the stories without any spoilers, and if there were spoilers, she gave fair warning and a page number to skip ahead to to avoid them.


The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson
While fly-fishing to destress from his work with advocating for refugees, the author was introduced to a strange theft in England by his fishing guide. Just years before a young man broke into the British Museum of Natural History and made off with hundreds of rare birds driven by an obsession with Victorian fly-tying. Mr. Johnson was intrigued and decided to look into the case further. What would drive someone to steal dead birds, and furthermore, where were the more than 100 birds the police never recovered? To gain a better understanding, he gives himself and readers a history of obsessions with birds and feathers, what curbed the feather trade, a brief history of fly-tying and a look at its modern world, and how his own investigation into the missing birds played out.

Target Readers:

  • Non-gory True Crime Fans/Fans of Wacky True Crime Stories/Endangered Species History Buffs: This is most definitely one of the oddest true crime tales I've ever read. It is also the one with the lowest human body count. It is a somewhat frustrating read because Johnson highlights several ways a whole group of people are breaking endangered species trafficking laws and pretty much getting away with it, all so they can feed their obsession with an art form. I'm sure bringing this to light was a huge motivator for the book, and it sounds like someone needed to blow the whistle. It is a fascinating read, even if justice seems a bit elusive at times in the real world. (I'll let you read it yourself and see if you think the thief got what he deserved or not.) The history of how certain endangered species laws came about isn't something you regularly come across and it was fascinating to see how Victorian feather-obsession turned to endangered species awareness and activism. The love/hate relationship natural history museums have with collectors is also an interesting point brought up by the book. Without collectors of the past, most of them wouldn't have their own collections, but the biggest threat to modern museums besides fires seems to be overly-ambitious collectors today. The look into the world of fly-tying was also eye-opening. I now know more than I ever even realized there was to know about fly-tying.


Thursday, October 4, 2018

Brainstorm 154: Fantasy & Scifi Mysteries

October seems a fitting time to look at some good mysteries to curl up with during dreary weather. I haven’t had a mystery post in a while too. If you want to look at some past Brainstorms featuring mysteries, check out Brainstorm 136: Thrilling Reads for All, Brainstorm 115: Art Crimes, Brainstorm 49: Mystery Stand Alones, and Brainstorm 50: Mystery Series. I started listing some mysteries I wanted to share today and came up with too many, so I’m splitting it into two Brainstorms. Today we have some fantasy and scifi mysteries, and next week we’ll have some realistic and historical fiction mysteries.


Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Serlin
When people have something that is lost or stolen, Baby Monkey is there to help. You may have to be a little patient while he gets ready, but he gets great results in finding the perpetrator.

Target Readers: 

  • Little Sleuths/Emergent Readers/Readers Working on Prediction Skills/Readers Wanting to Practice Observation Skills/Readers with Visual Acuity Issues/Art Lovers/Animal Lovers: This looks like it is a long chapter book just glancing at the number of pages and the size, but it actually takes about the same amount of time to read as the average 32 page picture book. Once you crack the cover you see that the font size is huge (making this a great pick for kids with eye issues), there is just one sentence or one word every other page or so, and many pages are just illustrations without words. The story features a repetitive pattern that kids should be able to catch on to, make predictions about what words or events will happen next, and in general this is a great one for beginning readers or pre-readers because they should be able to catch on and "read" with a more advanced reader. They will need to revise their predictions a few times, though, when the pattern doesn't go quite like normal. Good practice for kids making predictions and revising their predictions. Kids with sharp eyes should be able to guess who stole each item before Baby Monkey finds the criminal based on the pages of tracks. This is a great introductory mystery for kids featuring a cute little private eye and Selznick's amazing illustrations. As a bonus, Baby Monkey's office decor changes before each case and there's a guide in the back of the book what each picture and statue is. See if older kids can figure out how they relate to each case.


Who Done It? by Olivier Tallec
Each spread poses one question, and a line up of characters. From the illustrations, readers should be able to figure out the answer to the question, such as which one ate all the jam or who didn't get enough sleep last night.

Target Readers:

  • Little Sleuths/Readers Working on Observation Skills/Interactive Story Fans: This is a fantastic book for kids who need to work on visual clues or their observation skills. Also it's just a fun interactive story, or light mystery for younger kids. It isn't very hard, but does require paying good attention to the illustrations. Answers to each page's question are provided in the back of the book.


Lower Grade Fiction


Charge of the Lightning Bugs (The Notebook of Doom, #8) by Troy Cummings
Alexander and his father notice some lightning bugs during their last cookout of the summer. And then electronics all over the city start to lose power. The SSMP (Super Secret Monster Patrol) members are sure there's a monster about causing the issues, but they can't find anything in the notebook that fits their observations. Can they figure out what's draining the power or are they doomed to walk seven flights of stairs to school every day the rest of the school year?

Target Readers:

  • Would Be Sleuths/Kids Who Think They Want to Read Something Thrilling/Fantasy Fans: This entire series includes mysteries involving non-scary monsters for the characters to solve. This book had a little more twist than normal for the series. Along the way there's a little bit of info on real lightning/electricity safety kids can pick up from this one. A fun, non-scary, problem solving adventure with the SSMP.


Mr. Penguin and the Lost Treasure by Alex T. Smith
Mr Penguin has decided to open his own adventuring business. He and his trusty assistant, Colin, a spider, are ready to be there when you need an adventurer. On his very first day, Mr Penguin is called by the owners of The Museum of Extraordinary Objects to come help them find a treasure. But adventuring turns out to be a whole lot more long, tiring, dangerous, and hungry than Mr Penguin thought it would be. Can he and Colin make it as adventurers?

Target Readers:

  • Armchair Adventurers/Humor Fans/Would Be Sleuths/Animal Lovers: Mr Penguin is most entertaining to adventure with, especially with his idealistic views of adventuring that get shattered by his first case. Colin was my favorite character. He is full of surprises. And the case itself is quite thrilling. What's not to love about a secret underground jungle below a museum and a treasure map to follow? 


Stranger Things (Looniverse, #1) by David Lubar
After finding a coin with nothing but the words "strange, stranger" on it, Ed's super ordinary life gets much stranger. When things escalate from his brother trading in a thousand words for a picture-strange to his friend's brother almost floating off into space-strange Ed realizes he must figure out how to stop the strangeness, and just throwing the coin away doesn't seem to work.

Target Readers:

  • Would Be Sleuths/Weird Fantasy Fans/Oddballs: All the strange things in this are on the humorous to wildly imaginative part of the spectrum and not on the scary-freaky side at all. (And adults, just an FYI, this did come out years before the TV show of the same name.) It is a curious mystery Ed has to solve with an unexpected answer. I doubt many lower grade readers will be able to correctly predict who Ed is supposed to give the coin to. The book ultimately celebrates the ways our "strangeness" makes the world a better place, which should be a comforting thought for all the kids who don't quite feel like they fit in. (And let's face it, that's probably the majority of kids...and adults for that matter.) A wildly imaginative tale that's good for both the upper end of the lower grade spectrum and the lower end of the middle grade spectrum of readers.


Middle Grade Fiction


Last Day on Mars (Chronicle of the Dark Star, #1) by Kevin Emerson
Liam feels like he's the only one sad to say goodbye to Mars. The adults all view Mars as just a layover on their escape from the Earth, or more exactly, the Sun as it is on its way to going supernova. Their end goal is a new home on a planet called Aaru in another solar system. Today is the day the last people will board the starship for their long journey there. The only one who seems to understand Liam is his friend Phoebe, another of the kids who was born on Mars. As they prepare to leave the only home they've ever known, Liam and Phoebe are stuck on the last transport up to the starship because their parents are scientists finishing up the terraforming project for Aaru. But as the solar storms get worse and the time for the starship to depart draws near, things start to go horribly wrong, they stumble across some big secrets, and it is up to Liam and Phoebe to save the day.
Note: Click on the title to see more info on content.

Target Readers:

  • Thriller Fans/Scifi Fans/Mystery Fans/High Octane Read Fans: Once you get to Liam's last day on Mars the action and intensity of the book pick way up and I read the last 3/4 of the book in one sitting because it was impossible to put down. Liam and Phoebe face emergency after emergency, and though sometimes when authors do that it can feel unrealistic, these all flowed together and made sense. It is quite the high octane read with plenty of mystery building and you finish the last page needing book two as soon as possible. Liam and Phoebe are both 13, so this is one of those middle grade reads that should also appeal to teens. If you have a preteen or teen who thinks reading is boring, shove this in their hands and see if they can bear to put it down after they reach page 90. 


The Lost Property Office (Section 13, #1) by James R. Hannibal
Jack thinks he, his mother, and his sister are in England to recover his father's body after an incident. But when he and his sister accidentally stumble into The Lost Property Office, a hidden world is opened up to them. A world where his father was really part of a secret British Ministry, and had skills Jack shares. Skills that allow him to track things and people. And if there's one person who needs Jack to use those skills, it's his father who isn't quite as dead as thought and is being held by a man demanding Jack bring him something called the Ember by midnight. With a young clerk named Gwen he meets at The Lost Property Office, Jack is soon off across London using his newly discovered skills to solve a centuries old mystery relating to the Great Fire with the Ember somehow at the end.
Note: Some violence.

Target Readers:

  • Mystery Fans/Fantasy Fans/Alternate History & Reality Fans/High Octane Read Fans/Synesthesia Character Fans: After reading just a few chapters I was completely and utterly sucked into this story. Jack is a synesthete (it never actually labels him this in the book, but the author's bio does, as Mr. Hannibal himself has synesthesia), someone who sees sounds as colors and such. Most synesthetes just have a few senses linked, but Jack has all of them linked and that gives him almost supernatural abilities to observe things. It's almost like he's a superhero who can slow down time. In his world, touching anything mineral-based will let him recover past observances of that mineral. As if that weren't cool enough, the Ministry Jack's father is a part of has some pretty nifty secret transportation methods and archives and hideouts. (I now want this made into a movie just so I can see the archive...a huge cylindrical library accessed by hot air balloons that take you up or down to the volume you want). Definitely a winner for anyone who loves imaginative worlds and high octane adventures.


The Ministry of S.U.I.T.s (Ministry of SUITs, #1) by Paul Gamble
Jack is a pretty normal boy. He's not super smart or dumb. He's not super popular, but he is generally well-liked. There's just one area where Jack stands out. He's super curious. Curious to the extent he gets that thing about cats and curiosity and death quoted to him all the time. After rescuing a man from being mauled by a bear in morning traffic, Jack's curiosity leads him to find the organization the man works for, the Ministry of Strange Unusual and Impossible Things. Becoming an agent for the Ministry of S.U.I.T.s is easier than Jack ever would have imagined. Staying alive as an agent and figuring out how to complete missions... that's a bit more challenging. And it is up to Jack and his partner to figure out what is going on at their school and save several fellow students (and maybe all of Northern Ireland).
Note: Some fantasy violence.

Target Readers:

  • Humor Fans/Fantasy Fans/Zany Adventure Fans/Reluctant Readers/Irish Setting Fans: If you like random and silly humor, you NEED this book. If you like things black and white, don't touch it. The Ministry Jack joins is full of some wild characters. The things he learns about his world are utterly ridiculous and funny. Every chapter ends with an excerpt from the Ministry of SUITs' handbook, which are zany explanations for everyday events or will straighten out what you thought you knew with the "truth" (most of which is highly imaginative, utterly absurd, but definitely humorous). Wrapped up in the goofiness is a spy mission worthy of James Bond but with some issues even Bond has never faced and tools Bond may have wished he had (I'm sure Bond wished he had a herd of dinosaurs at some point). It was hilarious fun. The end gets a teensy bit more serious because it is do or die time, but overall it should get several laughs and chuckles out of readers. A good pick for a reluctant reader. If readers like this one, there are two more books in the series so far. 


Moon Base Alpha series by Stuart Gibbs
Dashiell Gibson is one of a handful of kids on Moon Base Alpha. Actually, he's one of a handful of people on Moon Base Alpha. There's a few families with both parents filling vital moon base rolls, as well as a couple other single specialists, and one snotty tourist family. Dash thinks they all know each other quite well. But when Dr. Holtz goes out the hatch and dies of a suit malfunction, Dash smells foul play. But the Moon Base commander tells him to put his foul play theories deep under a moon rock and leave them there. Dash can't seem to let things be though. Dr. Holtz had a lot of stuff going for him and just hours before he died Dash overheard him in the bathroom talking about an exciting new discovery he was about to announce. Why would a scientist on the edge of a breakthrough do something stupid like go on a moonwalk alone? As Dash keeps poking his nose around base (because, let's face it, there's not much else for a kid to do on a small moon base) he discovers more and more residents of the base with possible motives for getting rid of the famous doctor. The question is, which motive was worth killing over, and who is next? (The 2nd and 3rd books present Dashiell with a missing persons case and then an attempted poisoning to solve.)
Note: A teensy amount of language. Some violence.

Target Readers:

  • Mystery Fans/Scifi Fans/Edgar Award Nominee Readers/Completed Series Fans: Gibbs writes some really smart mysteries for Dash to solve in this series that will keep readers guessing. Gibbs definitely deserved that Edgar Award nomination for the first book. The setting is very well researched and adds to the atmosphere of the series. Dash feels like a very real person to follow around the moon base and solve crimes with. For readers who prefer for a series to be done before they start, book three was the final one in this series. But readers who want more, don’t despair. Mr. Gibbs has two other fantastic middle grade mystery/thriller series: FunJungle, about Teddy Fitzroy who solves mysteries at the zoo his parents work at and live next to, and Spy School, about Ben Ripley who is training to be a spy with the CIA and keeps getting called into the field. Anything written by Gibbs would be another great pick for reluctant readers.


The Problim Children (The Problim Children, #1) by Natalie Lloyd
When the Problim's home is destroyed in a mild explosion, they must seek refuge in the home their Grandfather left them. There's just a few problems for the seven Problim children, though. First, the people in the town led by the O'Pinions do not want the Problim children in their town. Second, unless they can prove they are Problims they will be taken away and separated. Third, their proof got blown up and their parents are off on a job for the Andorran royalty and they can't seem to contact them. Fourth, their Grandfather left them a puzzle to solve and possibly a treasure to uncover but the O'Pinions claim Grandfather stole it from them and seem willing to do just about anything to find the treasure first. Can the seven Problim children get the town to like them and prove who they are while trying to puzzle out their Grandfather's secrets?

Target Readers:

  • Light Fantasy Fans/Wacky Family Fans/Heartwarming Message Fans/Fans of Ongoing Mysteries: The Problim children are a delightfully wacky group of kids from a baby who communicates through different kinds of farts to Sundae, the super cheerful and optimistic teenager, to Mona who just might be a sociopath, to Sal who is a very magical gardener. In the middle are Wendell and Thea, twins who were born on different days in the middle of the night. The two of them are trying to figure out changes in their relationship as they become tweens. The house and town where the Problims live feels just a little too different and magical to be real, so this is more fantasy than realistic fiction. (It feels like Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle or Willy Wonka could live in the next town over, and I think Pippi Longstocking could totally be a Problim cousin.) As is normal for Lloyd's work, there are some great messages woven in here about family, self-worth, friendship, and what really matters. I expect those to get even better as the secrets of the treasure and the feud between the Problims and the O'Pinions gets further revealed. I can't wait to figure out more of the puzzle. I have some ideas, but I'm not going to tell. There are some small plot resolutions at the end of this book, enough to feel satisfied for now, but definitely eager for the next book too.


YA & Adult Fiction


All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) by Martha Wells
The SecUnit assigned to a group of scientists surveying a prospective planet starts to notice discrepancies between the information that was provided by the Company and what is being observed on the planet. And these aren't just little discrepancies. These are big, huge, potentially-deadly discrepancies. SecUnit usually tries to keep distance from humans, but these humans are more agreeable than most so it would prefer to keep them alive. Also, its record isn't all that stellar and it can't afford any more casualties on its watch. So self-named Murderbot starts trying to figure out what's going on on this planet and how it can keep the scientists alive long enough for rescue.
Note: Click on title to see content notes.

Target Readers:

  • Smart Scifi Fans/Thriller Fans/Quick Read Fans/Award Winner Readers/Disaster Story Fans: Murderbot is pretty much a cyborg, part cloned organic parts and part machine, but programmed to think of itself as more of a robot than a human. (Though some of the scientists try to get it to start to think of itself as more human.) The whole mystery has the flavor of the best Aliens movies or best Jurassic Park movies/books. Nature and unknown hostiles out to get a ragtag group of scientists with an unlikely hero who uses smarts and unconventional means to lead them to safety. I personal love that kind book and movie, so I thoroughly enjoyed following Murderbot around and figuring out this mystery. There are more books in the series that solve small mysteries while working to uncover a larger mystery regarding Murderbot’s past. You would think that an unemotional protagonist who is very clinical in evaluation of the people it works with and would rather watch TV shows than save the day would cause the reader to be uninterested in what happened, but that wasn't the case. Which is quite a testament to Wells' writing abilities. Recommended to all who like smart scifi thrillers, disaster stories, or scifi fans looking for a quick read. And those of you who like to read award winners, this won a Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and an Alex Award.


The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
Maurice is an unusual cat. There's the fact that he hangs out almost entirely with rats and a boy, highly unusual in itself. But there's also the fact that he can talk, and plot. And plot is what he likes to do very much. For quite a while now he's led the rats, who can also talk, and the musical boy on a tour of several towns in a classic Pied Piper con. The rats go in, they terrorize the town, the town calls for a piper, the boy walks in and they all walk away with money. After talking and reasoning for quite a while now (thanks to some kind of accident outside the school for wizardry), the rats have inconveniently also started to develop a conscience. They are no longer comfortable with ill-gotten gains, and so they inform Maurice that the next town is going to be the last. Maurice reluctantly agrees, and they head into the village of Bad Bartz. This village already seems to have something of a rat problem judging by the shortage of food and the high payout the rat catchers are getting of 50 cents a rat tail. But as the rats move in, they discover a strange lack of other rodentia. Something fishy is going on in Bad Bartz, and Maurice, the rats, the boy, and the slightly-scary mayor's daughter find it is up to them to uncover what's going on and save the town from starvation.

Target Readers:

  • Humor Fans/Fractured Fairy Tale Fans/Fantasy Fans/Mystery Fans/Award Winner Readers: Pratchett has a tendency to not write as funny for young adults, but the wit is still there in this book thanks to Maurice's sarcasm, the ongoing enlightenment of the rats as they discover reason and thought, the quiet boy Keith who suddenly spouts wisdom from time to time (usually to Maurice's chagrin) and the precocious Mayor's daughter Malicia who seems to believe that all adventures go by the books and quite possibly needs a full-time keeper. The mystery of what was going on in the village kept me guessing for quite a while, quite likely because Pratchett is utterly unpredictable in the Disc World. (Incidentally, there is no need to read any other Discworld book to fully get this one. It is really a stand alone, it just happens in the Discworld so it is listed as part of that series.) It was a fun read, with moments to get readers thinking if they aren't careful, and a delightful rewrite of a fairy tale as only Pratchett could do. Award winner readers, this one picked up a Carnegie Medal (which is kind of like the Newbery of England).


Railhead (Railhead, #1) by Philip Reeve
Zen Sterling just loves riding the trains of the Network. Such people are called railheads in the empire. The empire is made up of a Network of stations on different planets and moons linked together by K-gates allowing speedy travel across lightyears. Zen is a small time thief trying to help his sister and delusional ma until the day he is recruited by a strange man named Raven. Raven hires him to get on the Noon's train, the imperial family train, and steal a small object from the art collection. After a little training, Zen is put on the train impersonating one of the lesser nephews in the Noon family with a Motorik named Nova to help. And Zen has no clue as to how this mission will change not only his life, but the lives of everyone in the empire.
Note: Click on title to see content notes.

Target Readers:

  • Scifi Fans/Fantastic World Building Fans/Fans of Ongoing Mysteries/Completed Series Fans: Reeve has created a fascinating world in the far distant future (so much so that Old Earth is cryptic and somewhat misunderstood...at one point Klingon is mentioned (obviously seriously but mistakenly) as one of the main Old Earth languages…which gave me a good laugh). The whole rail system is fascinating, the sentient tech (the trains and many of the robots have their own personalities and feelings), the imaginary worlds, the Guardians who set up the system and still rule through programs in the datasea that can take on physical manifestations. It's a great job of world building. I devoured the series mostly just to see what he was going to do with it next. This first book mostly revolves around the mystery of why Raven is doing what he’s doing. Zen gets caught up in some massive power plays and a search to discover the mystery of where the K-gates and the rail system came from. Those story lines continue through the next two books in the series, Black Light Express and Station Zero. With the publication of Station Zero, the series is complete for those readers who only want to start a series when it is done.


Shivering World by Kathy Tyers
The planet of Goddard is in just the beginning stages of terraforming. Current residents are the Gaea Consortium scientists working on getting the planet stable and the Lwuite colonists, a religious sect with all sorts of rumors about them. Graysha Brady-Phillips is the newest Gaea employee to arrive. Outwardly she’s there because the former soils specialist died and she needed a good paying job. Secretly she’s hoping that some of the rumors about the Lwuites are true and they do illegal genetic engineering that could give a woman with Flaherty’s syndrome hope. Unfortunately, Graysha’s mother is the infamous lead crusader on the Eugenics Board that hunts down any such illegal activity. As soon as Graysha arrives on planet she’s suspected of being a spy for her mother. Not only that, but something is going on with the terraforming on Goddard and Graysha’s predecessor might have been killed because of it. Graysha may be just too smart for her own good and now she has multiple groups out to get rid of her one way or another. And as if that weren’t enough drama for one startup planet, the colonists are having sudden elections to decide their leader and a stowaway arrives who has a big and powerful father with a history of leaving places his son tries to hide at in smoldering piles.
Note: Click on title to see content notes.

Target Readers:

  • Fans of Smart Scifi/Thriller Fans/Mystery Fans/Light Christian Speculative Fiction Fans: This was a fascinating read with a lot going on in it. The science aspects are very well done and make you feel like terraforming is a practice that Tyers actually observed to be able to write about in such detail. All the power plays at work on the planet certainly make this an edge-of-your-seat read. I wasn’t sure for quite a while how things were going to work out. Even right up until the end there was a lot unsure. If you like scifi that’s rich in actual science and/or very believable near-future science give this a try. Also a good choice for those who like light Christian speculative fiction (some of the Lwuites are religious, in fact Christian, and some of the politics revolves around a don’t tell don’t ask law about religion, and the Eugenics Board claims their principles are based on Christianity but it is really more of a cult that has picked and chosen what is convenient for them). And of course, hand this to those who enjoy political thrillers. This was published a couple decades ago, but is getting a rerelease with a revamped cover. I was graciously given an ARC from the new publisher in exchange for an honest review and once I started reading realized we had an older copy on our library shelves. The content is the same.


Squirrel Meets World (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl novels, #1) by Shannon & Dean Hale
Doreen Green is a pretty typical 14 year old girl, eager to make friends in her brand new neighborhood in New Jersey. She just has one tiny, itsy difference from most 14 year old girls. She has a tail. Oh, and some other squirrel traits, including the ability to communicate with real squirrels. She never lets anyone outside her family see the tail though. The groups at her new school are proving as tough as walnuts to get into, but Doreen does make one friend. Ana Sofía honestly doesn't at first welcome Doreen's olive branches of friendship, but Doreen's knowledge of ASL does break down a little of the wall with a girl who can't hear and then there's Doreen's relentless positive attitude. Doreen also makes some friends among the local squirrels when she destroys some crazy evil traps someone set up around town. When Doreen uses her squirrel powers (and squirrel friends) to help thwart a troublesome gang in the neighborhood, Squirrel Girl gets her first appearance. Doreen always admires the Avengers and other superheroes, but she's never really thought she could be one. Squirrel Girl saves the day a few more times in the coming days, and she gets the attention of local would-be super villain Micro-Manager. He wants to make a name for himself, and what better way to do so than to take down a superhero. Besides, Squirrel Girl has already annoyed him by messing with his rodent traps around town. Can Squirrel Girl really save the day, or is she just a girl with a tail?

Target Readers:

  • Scifi Fans/Superhero Fans/Squirrel Lovers/Read Aloud Fans/Humor Lovers/Mystery Fans/Admirable Heroine Fans: This is a fabulous imagining of Squirrel Girl's origins. It's adventurous and exciting and hilarious to boot. Shannon & Dean Hale have captured all the best of North & Henderson's Squirrel Girl and made her a teenager. She's relentlessly loving, kind, and perky to a fault. She always tries to use communication before fists. She wins over tough and misunderstood Ana María without even realizing what a tough case the girl is. I absolutely love Doreen's relationship with her parents and the way they model great communication between child and parent for readers. (Her parents are both quite funny themselves, and you can definitely see why Doreen is the way she is when you meet them.) And Doreen gives some great footnote commentaries (just as good as North & Henderson's). Tippy-Toe and the squirrels in the neighborhood get their own fair share of page time as they unite to help Squirrel Girl fight and solve the weird stuff going on in the neighborhood. This is marketed as YA, but the content is safe for any age. The 2nd book in the series is just as good. Oh, and this would make for a fantastic read aloud.