I’ve been getting more mail than usual lately, most of it from mystery fans who have read the first two books in my Silver Jaguar Society series with Scholastic.
Pretty much everyone has the same question: WHEN will the third book be out???
The third book is called MANHUNT, and it comes out in May. Some kids aren’t satisfied with this answer. One kid asked me to just send it to him now; he promised to keep it under wraps. One girl wrote back and said, “Well, do you think you and the publisher could speed it up a little?”
Sadly, no… Books take time. MANHUNT still needs to be illustrated (there are cool maps in this one!),the cover needs to be designed, and the text itself needs to go through final edits. The last time I saw MANHUNT, it looked like this…
Not exactly ready for readers just yet. But I want to share two kids’ mysteries that I read and loved recently. I think readers who love the Silver Jaguar Society mysteries will love these, too.
THE WIG IN THE WINDOW by Kristen Kittscher (out now) features best friends and spy partners Sophie Young and Grace Yang. These two tween sleuths face all the struggles of middle school’s changing friendships AND the dangers of a real life-or-death mystery that starts when they *think* they’ve just seen their school guidance counselor commit a terrible crime. This book is funny,
realistic, and suspenseful — a pitch-perfect mystery for the tween set.
Erin Dionne’s MOXIE AND THE ART OF RULE BREAKING (comes out July 11th) is another action-packed choice. I’m a sucker for a book with a strong sense of place, so this Boston-based mystery based on the real-life Isabella Stewart Gardner heist didn’t disappoint. Moxie and her best guy-friend Ollie get wrapped up in searching for the stolen art after Moxie begins to suspect her grandfather, now suffering from dementia, was involved in hiding it back in 1990. Moxie and Ollie are real, imperfect kids – best friends who have great family relationships that are explored in this novel, along with the Boston-based treasure hunt.
Both of these are great summer reads for mystery fans ages 10 and up – and both will be especially popular with middle school readers who love the idea of doing a little sleuthing on their own!
The Gardner Museum/Isabella should make a marvelous setting for a mystery! Happy to have these two titles. I’m late reading, but in the middle of Capture The Flag, Kate, & loving it. Guess Hide & Seek will need to be next!
I like to write about what I see, what I hear and what I feel.
I enjoy writing but definitely need to find the time to write more.
I’m looking forward to this year’s Teachers Write and I’m participating from Kingston, Jamaica.