The Spooky Story

by Amy Marie Stadelmann

Paige is a fact collector and carries around a handy notebook in which to write her facts and solve mysteries. Along the way, she engages the reader by sharing her notebook pages and insights. One might notice that she seems to be using parts of the scientific process in her methods. In “The Spooky Story”, she and her friends, Penn and Karla, investigate the mysterious ghostly occurrences at Karla’s home. Karla shares a house with her grandmother, who teaches music to a collection of interesting characters that were introduced in the first book of the series. In this case, there are ghostly footsteps on the stairs, an upstairs door that slams shut and eery shadows that show up. Paige and friends are able to use their keen senses to determine that the occurrences can be explained with observable facts, although Penn is still a little caught up in the notion of ghosts. Paige remarks, “Even when you have fully investigated, made clear observations, and proven the facts, some people still come to their own conclusions”. Hmm…that rings true even with adults, doesn’t it?

There are color illustrations throughout and glimpses of Paige’s notebook pages help explain her reasoning as the story moves along. The cover of the book calls this story “a graphic novel chapter book”, which should hook your graphic novel readers AND your easier chapter book readers. Highly recommended.

Really Truly: A Pumpkin Falls Mystery by Heather Vogel Frederick

I chose this book because (1) Our students love the Mother-Daughter Book Club series and (2) I already have books 1 and 2 in the Pumpkin Falls Mystery series. I haven’t read the first two in the series but was pleased that the author filled in enough detail that I didn’t go into the story feeling lost.

As in The Mother-Daughter Book Club, one of Frederick’s themes is “family.” The close-knit Lovejoy family (their last name says it all!) has gathered for their yearly family reunion, this time in New Hampshire. Our protagonist, Truly, adores her cousins, but with a love-interest this summer, she’s anxious for them to leave so the best summer of her life with R. J. can begin. When the week is up, the unexpected happens when her mom signs her up for mermaid camp with her cousin. It was at this point in the story that I lost interest — it was an odd choice for the author and at that point, the book fell flat for me.