Welcome to Wonderland Author Chris Grabenstein on Solving the Mystery of Summer Reading
Beach Party Surf Monkey (Welcome to Wonderland Series #2)
Hardcover $13.99
Beach Party Surf Monkey (Welcome to Wonderland Series #2)
Hardcover $13.99
Author Chris Grabenstein knows how to draw young readers into with delightfully funny and offbeat adventure stories, from his Welcome to Wonderland series, set in a struggling Florida motel, to his puzzle-filled Mr. Lemoncello books. We asked him to share some of his favorite summer reading picks, and his inspiring list will keep young readers busy and entertained for hours.
Author Chris Grabenstein knows how to draw young readers into with delightfully funny and offbeat adventure stories, from his Welcome to Wonderland series, set in a struggling Florida motel, to his puzzle-filled Mr. Lemoncello books. We asked him to share some of his favorite summer reading picks, and his inspiring list will keep young readers busy and entertained for hours.
If you ask me, when it comes to Fun-In-The-Sun summer reading, nothing beats a great mystery.
When you’re reading a mystery—like my Welcome to Wonderland or Lemoncello Library books—you get to play along with the characters in the stories. In fact, you might be able to piece together the clues and come up with the solution before the kids in the books do.
When you pick up my newest book, Welcome to Wonderland: Beach Party Surf Monkey, you’ll have fun trying to figure out what’s really going on at the world’s wackiest motel before my heroes P.T. Wilkie and Gloria Ortega do. Plus, the story takes place in Florida. What could be more fun than that?
Mysteries are interactive, which turns reading into a game. You don’t just “read” a mystery. You get to match your wits against some of the sharpest sleuths ever imagined.
With the help of a few terrific websites like ReadKiddoRead.com and Brightly not to mention my friends at Mystery Writers of America, I have compiled a list of five fantastically puzzling and perplexing mysteries for upper elementary and middle grade readers to play with (I mean “read”) this summer.
Book Scavenger (Book Scavenger Series #1)
Paperback $8.99
Book Scavenger (Book Scavenger Series #1)
In Stock Online
Paperback $8.99
Book Scavenger and The Unbreakable Code (Book Scavenger Series #1 and #2), by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
I just received a piece of fan mail from a nine-year-old lover of Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library who asked me if Ms. Bertman is “my sister” because her book is filled with the same kind of literary sleuthing as mine. There are now two books in the Book Scavenger series, so start with book #1.
Book Scavenger and The Unbreakable Code (Book Scavenger Series #1 and #2), by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
I just received a piece of fan mail from a nine-year-old lover of Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library who asked me if Ms. Bertman is “my sister” because her book is filled with the same kind of literary sleuthing as mine. There are now two books in the Book Scavenger series, so start with book #1.
That’s another great tip for summer reading: Find a series and devour it. Knock them down like dominoes!
In Book Scavenger, twelve-year-old Emily and her family are relocating to San Francisco, home of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, creator of the online gaming sensation Book Scavenger, a game where books are hidden all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles.
But Emily soon learns that Griswold has been attacked and is in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he was working on. Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold and leads to a valuable prize. But there are others on the hunt for this book, and Emily and James must race to solve the puzzles Griswold left behind before Griswold’s attackers make them their next target.
Greenglass House (Greenglass House Series)
Paperback $9.99
Greenglass House (Greenglass House Series)
By
Kate Milford
Illustrator
Jaime Zollars
In Stock Online
Paperback $9.99
Greenglass House, by Kate Milford
This mystery won the extremely prestigious Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery as selected by the Mystery Writers of America. It was also nominated for a National Book Award. But don’t let that scare your kids. It’s a fun read, not a broccoli book!
Greenglass House, by Kate Milford
This mystery won the extremely prestigious Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery as selected by the Mystery Writers of America. It was also nominated for a National Book Award. But don’t let that scare your kids. It’s a fun read, not a broccoli book!
A sequel, Ghosts of Greenglass House, will be coming out in October.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Paperback
$7.99
$8.99
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
In Stock Online
Paperback
$7.99
$8.99
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg
This classic mystery just celebrated its 50th anniversary! But this Newbery Award winner from 1968 is just as much fun to get mixed up with today as it was when I was a kid.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg
This classic mystery just celebrated its 50th anniversary! But this Newbery Award winner from 1968 is just as much fun to get mixed up with today as it was when I was a kid.
The London Eye Mystery
Paperback $8.99
The London Eye Mystery
By Siobhan Dowd
In Stock Online
Paperback $8.99
The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd
Another five-star mystery! I read it years ago but still remember its details vividly. Add this book to your summer reading list and you can visit London without leaving home! This one is an unput-downable spine-tingling thriller—and a race against time.
The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd
Another five-star mystery! I read it years ago but still remember its details vividly. Add this book to your summer reading list and you can visit London without leaving home! This one is an unput-downable spine-tingling thriller—and a race against time.
Unput-downable are my favorite kind of summer books!
There are so many other terrific mysteries that will keep young readers frantically flipping through the pages all summer long. Check out the Sammy Keyes mysteries by Wendelin Van Draanen. Introduce the next generation to Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Sherlock Holmes (he’s a lot of fun and the stories are short).
For your more advanced reader, you might even try a few Agatha Christie titles. (Those were the ones that got me hooked on mysteries when I was young.)
It’s really no mystery about how to beat the summer reading slump: Read more mysteries!
Welcome to Wonderland: Beach Party Surf Monkey is on B&N bookshelves now!