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.




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