middle grade mystery – BUBBLE BUBBLE BOOKS & TROUBLE

Hits!

It’s Watching by Lindsay Currie

When I saw the cover and read the dustcover promising a chilling YA ghost-hunting adventure in the infamous Bechelor’s Grove cemetery, I was all in! I really enjoyed how the group of tweens worked together to solve the mystery of the resident ghost who appears sitting atop a grave—a true legend, I might add! It’s all fun and spooky games until the trio of prospective journalists receives ghostly texts on their phones depicting a phantom farmhouse (another true legend!) that beckons them to come inside—and never leave. Borrowing the countdown-to-doom horror trope, the tension ratchets up when the kiddos learn they must solve the mystery before the house swallows them into the abyss. Yikes!

Overall, this is a fun middle-grade mystery, though I’m not really a fan of texting ghosts. It just seems a little silly, no? That said, compared to this author’s previous books, the lead character is much, MUCH more likable, and her passion for journalism feels genuine—which is more than I could say for little Ginny’s obsession with Agatha Christie and locked-room mysteries in What Lives in the Woods.

Props to the author for adding a history lesson about the old Chicago cemetery! Given the bleak reality of our public school crisis, these history lessons are incredibly valuable.

The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall by Charis Cotter

Shout-out to BookPeople for having the best selection of middle-grade and YA mysteries! This store is one of the few reasons I could never leave Austin.

I haven’t seen this book anywhere else, which is a shame because it’s such a great little magical mystery for young readers and… ahem… the young at heart. Finally, I found a book written by an author who clearly went to sleepaway summer camp! Everything about it reminded me of my sweet memories of camp in the Southern California mountains. So many scenes took me back to those carefree summers with my cabin of trouble-making friends.

I loved the main character, Bee, who deals with A LOT of BS from the mean girls—both at home and at camp. Ugh, this girl can’t catch a break. She has a “hearing problem,” meaning she can hear everything and anything from miles away. To cope, she uses internal walls and gates to block out the noise. When the girls catch on that something’s a little off with her, they make her life miserable. Mean girls are like sharks—once they smell blood in the water, they attack!

Anyhoo, things take a turn when Bee finds a new friend, Zippy, who doesn’t care about fitting in. And once Zippy enters the scene, the story takes off! They soon find themselves in a mystery. Why are the older girls (the Hawks) sneaking out every night? Where are they going, and why are their flashlights always dead?

Soon, Bee and Zippy discover hidden tunnels and a whole new world outside their beloved bird-watching summer camp. Somehow, the enigmatic camp owner catches on to their investigations—and she seems to have some secrets of her own. Oh, the intrigue!

Although this book wasn’t scary, I absolutely adored the summer camp atmosphere, the lovable characters, and the magical world-building. It’s an original, creative story set in the 1960s—a time before gadgets, bizarre teenage slang, and text talk. I loved everything about it and can’t wait to read another Charis Cotter!

Misses!

The Better to Eat You With by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Let’s start on a positive note: the cover is fantastic! The image of a dead girl with glowing eyes bobbing in a spooky lake gives me the willies!

Unfortunately… the cover is total false advertising. This is NOT a scary book, nor is it a mystery. It’s a very serious, emotionally heavy story about a girl grappling with an abusive mother and a life-threatening eating disorder. There’s a whisper of a supernatural element—a supposed monster lurking in the background—but it’s not what you’d expect, and the “reveal” left me scratching my head. It felt like the author wanted to write a book about disordered eating but added a horror hook to draw readers in.

I’m really disappointed. I went in expecting eerie vibes and mystery, but instead got an entirely different story that didn’t deliver on the premise the cover promised. I won’t be picking up another book by this author.

Field of Screams by Wendy Parris

Once again, I’ve been suckered into buying a book with an awesome cover, only to be disappointed by a lackluster story devoid of spooks and scares. Cornfields are inherently unsettling—thank you, Children of the Corn—and the setup promised a deliciously spooky tale: a girl trapped in a haunted house across from a sea of whispering stalks. Yes, please.

But alas, this one was a total dud.

It quickly became clear that the author’s true mission wasn’t to scare or thrill, but to deliver lessons about grief, guilt, and resilience. To be fair, these stories are helpful for young readers, but please don’t put them in the horror section when there are no actual horrors!

So, our protagonist, Rebecca, spends most of the book in a fog of melancholy. Things perk up slightly when she encounters a ghost in a nearby farmhouse and starts connecting with her late father’s interest in the paranormal—but even that spark fizzles fast when the story turns back to grief and struggles with her mom’s new romance. Come on, kid! Let your mom get her groove back. Yeesh!

I kept waiting for the story to kick into gear once the ghost appeared, but the supernatural thread felt more like a marketing hook than the actual plotline. It’s the kind of book that seems to have been written with one story in mind, then dressed up in ghostly garb to snag readers with a creepy cool cover.

Honestly, I’m struggling to write a more detailed review because I’ve already forgotten most of it. All in all? Boo. And not in the fun, haunted-house way.

Confession: I’m a sucker for middle grade mysteries! They take me back to the days of yore when I had nothing to do with my time other than climbing trees and riding my beloved mountain bike around the neighborhood. Boy do I wish I held on to that old bike. We had us some good adventures around the mean streets of Santee, California (the armpit of San Diego).

But I digress, this is a quality read, even for the not-so-young adults who love a good dog-themed mystery. CeeCee especially loved the two preteen detectives who stopped at nothing in the name of canine justice. Woof!

The gist: Two kiddos, ZeeBee and Keenan, form a friendship while tracking down the murderer of ZeeBee’s beloved neerdowell dog Barney. They have their work cut out for them because practically all the Centerville Island townies have ample motives for snuffing out the massive beast.

What I liked: What didn’t I like about this book? It’s got everything I love about YA fiction: mystery, treasure hunts, bike—riding adventures and puppy sidekicks. What really makes this book unique is the little island of Centerville. Located on the Canadian-Michigan border, it’s a hop, skip and a jump from one country to another. I just loved the descriptions of the quaint little touristy village, which took me back to my vacations in Traverse City and Mackinac Island. I also really loved that it is packed with gangster legends and lore—such fun!

Favorite character: I saw SO much of myself in ZeeBee, so she won my heart. Although I wanted to smack her upside the head every time she ignored her poor little dog, Barney Two. Wracked with grief over her murdered dog, she couldn’t bring herself to love another pooch, but despite her indifference, that poor little fluffy spaniel loved her fiercely. Alas, the heart wants what the heart wants. Dogs are kind of funny that way, aren’t they?

Aside from ZeeBee’s misguided ways, I truly felt for her when she was the outsider looking in at all the cool kids having fun at the park. Branded as “that weird girl who is obsessed with gangster history,” she gave up on making friends (of the human variety) until Keenan came along. She was further isolated by the wonky school districting that forced her to attend a school across the island, away from all the kiddos in her hood. So yeah, it’s hard not to empathize with a lonely social outcast like ZeeBee. But don’t worry, dear readers, things have a way of working out. This is a YA book after all.

Thoughts on the mystery: I have to hand it to the author, this is a solid whodunit that really kept me guessing! Could the murder have been committed by the elderly sisters who hated Barney for trampling their prize-winning plants? Could it have been the local grocer who was terrorized by the massive beast in search of snacks? Or perhaps it was the uptight soccer dad around the block who was bitter about Barney demolishing his fence! There are so many suspects, so many clues—and it all leads back to the fascinating prohibition-era gangster lore. Such fun!

Overall: This is my first introduction to Gordon Korman’s mastery of children’s fiction, and now I know why he’s so wildly popular. If you enjoy a good story with lovable, quirky characters, snappy dialogue, fun settings, mystery and lore, this book is for you! I would love to see more adventures of Barney Two, ZeeBee and Keenan, but sadly I think this is a standalone.