middle grade mystery

Book Review: The Secret of White Stone Gate

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The Secret of White Stone Gate by Julia Nobel

The Secret of White Stone Gate (Black Hollow Lane, #2)
by Julia Nobel

3 out of 5 stars

Emmy is back for her second year at the exclusive Wellsworth boarding school, and she’s eager to reconnect with her friends Lola and Jack. She quickly develops a crush on Jack’s new roommate, Sam, but worries that Sam will get involved in the dangers surrounding the mysterious Order of Black Hollow Lane. When the Order frames Lola for stealing and gets her expelled, they tell Emmy that they will bring Lola back to school if Emmy tells them where to find her father. The problem… Emmy doesn’t know where her father is. Emmy has to decide if she can trust Sam to help with their plans to circumvent the Order and get Lola back in school.

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Book Review: The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

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The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane by Julia Nobel

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (Black Hollow Lane, #1)
by Julia Nobel

4 out of 5 stars

Emmy discovers that her dead father left behind a mysterious box of medallions with a note urging her to keep them safe. When her mother sends her to boarding school in England, Emmy thinks the medallions have some connection to the old school. Perhaps her father was a student there at some point and copied the odd symbols that are engraved on library books and wall carvings about the school. Emmy enlists the help of her new friends, Jack and Lola, and they investigate the existence of an underground society that will go to any lengths to hide their secrets. Now Emmy isn’t even sure if her father is really dead, or if the secret society is hiding something even more dastardly.

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Book Review: Midnight Magic

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Midnight Magic (Midnight Magic, #2)
by Avi

4 out of 5 stars

Fabrizio is a servant to the magician Mangus, who is called to the king’s castle to consult on a grave matter. The princess has been seeing apparitions of a ghost that she claims must be her murdered brother. The king believes in ghosts, but Mangus insists that there is no such thing. The king begs Mangus to use his magic to banish the ghost, but Mangus explains that his magic is only illusions and tricks. The evil Count Scarazoni has his own political reasons for wishing that the ghost be banished or proven to be a hoax. Mangus must investigate the apparitions, and he relies on his loyal servant Fabrizio to help him. Fabrizio can go anywhere in the castle, talk to servants, and sneak around secret passageways to find out if the ghost is real or not.

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Book Review: Hannah Edwards: Secrets of Riverway

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Hannah Edwards by Ashley Hards

Hannah Edwards: Secrets of Riverway
by Ashley Hards (Goodreads Author)

3 out of 5 stars

Hannah’s father has disappeared and the police don’t seem to be doing much to solve the mystery. Hannah and her friend Sam are determined to find out what happened and find Hannah’s father. Although Sam claims that he has seen a ghost that looks like Hannah’s father, Hannah is not ready to admit that her father could be dead. They begin exploring the occult, using a Ouija board to try to contact the ghost.

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Book Review: The Westing Game

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The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The Westing Game
by Ellen Raskin

4 out of 5 stars

Sam Westing leaves a puzzle in his will, and any of the heirs who can solve the riddle will win the entire inheritance. The puzzle is, who murdered Sam Westing? The heirs are broken up into teams and given different clues, but only by working together can they solve the mystery.

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Book Review: Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen

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Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen by Anne Nesbet

Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen
by Anne Nesbet (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Darleen is the star of silent films produced by her family’s film company just outside New York City. As part of a publicity stunt, they set up a fake kidnapping to bring more attention to their films, but something goes terrible wrong. Darleen gets trapped in the middle of a real kidnapping with a wealthy heiress, Victorine Berryman. Now the two girls must discover who the kidnappers are and stage a daring escape.

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Book Review: The Pear Affair

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The Pear Affair by Judith Eagle

The Pear Affair
by Judith Eagle (Author),Jo Rioux (Illustrator)

4.5 stars
Nell’s horrible parents are going to Paris, and Nell begs to be allowed to go with them. Her former nanny, Pear, left years ago and lives in Paris, and Nell is desperate to find her. Pear is the only person who ever really loved Nell, and Nell stopped hearing from her months ago. Nell is worried that Pear may have disappeared, but when she arrives in Paris, Nell discovers that the mystery goes far deeper than one missing au pair.

I loved this book so much! The plot is a mixture of many different mysteries that all blend together. I loved the way the different characters’ storylines overlapped. A bellhop with a secret underground lair. A baker’s son who worries that their bakery might go out of business. A poor young seamstress who dreams of going to school. And Nell’s evil parents, who are definitely up to something nefarious.

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Book Review: Witchlings

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Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega

Witchlings (Witchlings, #1)
by Claribel A. Ortega (Goodreads Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Seven is worried that when she is sorted into her witches coven she might not be in the same coven with her best friend. However, she never imagined that she would be a Spare, a witch without a coven at all. Seven and the other two Spares are set an impossible task to defeat a horrific Nightbeast. They must complete the task, or they will lose their magic forever, or worse, be turned into toads!

This book has everything I was looking for! There’s a great magic system and interesting world-building. I really liked that the witches’ world has a distant past that must be reckoned with. You really get a sense of the depth of the history behind their laws and the way their everyday lives are ordered.

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Book Review: In Myrtle Peril

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In Myrtle Peril by Elizabeth C. Bunce

In Myrtle Peril (Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery 4)
by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Myrtle’s father has tonsillitis in the hospital and witnesses a mysterious attack. While he is confined to bed, Myrtle will have to investigate with the assistance of her courageous governess, Miss Judson. Myrtle sets out to prove the identity of Ethel Snowcroft, who could be a long-lost heiress believed to have perished in a shipwreck years earlier.

I love the exciting mystery plot in this fourth book of the series! There are two different mysteries happening at the same time, but then the clues begin to converge and overlap, and only Myrtle can possible unravel the web of lies surrounding the hospital. This plot really kept my attention and had me guessing right up to the end!

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Book Review: Explorer Academy The Dragon’s Blood

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Explorer Academy by Trudi Trueit

Explorer Academy: The Dragon’s Blood (Book 6)
by Trudi Trueit (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

In this book, Cruz and his friends travel to China where they search for clues in an emperor’s tomb. With Nebula spies all around, Cruz wonders who is telling him the truth, but the truth is more complicated than he realizes.

There are a lot of plots twists and major revelations in this book! Around every corner something insane happens and it throws the whole plot into turmoil. The adventure is fantastic, and it’s really interesting to learn about all the historic sites that the characters visit.

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