Contemporary kid's mysteries

ApK · 10-07-2011, 10:32 AM

My 8-year-old son likes mystery and spy stories, but he seems to be only interested right now in more contemporary style...no vintage Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, etc.

Anyone have any suggestions for him, especially stuff that can be found free or cheap?

He's enjoyed A-to-Z Mysteries and the like, as well as the indi 'KK Undercover' books, for example.

ApK

misspout · 10-08-2011, 07:09 PM

Encyclopedia Brown series?

Nyssa · 10-08-2011, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApK

My 8-year-old son likes mystery and spy stories, but he seems to be only interested right now in more contemporary style...no vintage Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, etc.

Anyone have any suggestions for him, especially stuff that can be found free or cheap?

He's enjoyed A-to-Z Mysteries and the like, as well as the indi 'KK Undercover' books, for example.

ApK

The Cam Jansen Mysteries are very popular at my children's school library and both of my twins (age 8 - one girl and one boy) have enjoyed them as well, even though the stories are below the twin's reading levels. The school's media specialist makes a point of reading at least one of them to the 2nd grade classes every year.

speakingtohe · 10-09-2011, 07:16 AM

Eoin Colfer - Artemis fowl series (library?)
Douglas Anthony Cooper Milrose Munce and the den of professional help (free)
Terry Pratchett has quite a few good children's books
39 Clues various authors
The Five Find-Outers Enid Blyton
Skulduggery Pleasant Derek Landy
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Ransom Riggs

bert501 · 10-10-2011, 10:08 AM

My boys are 10 & 7. They LOVE any of the Scooby Doo mysteries. Also Magic Tree House is awesome. The oldest enjoyed 39 Clues series and the Cabin Creek Mysteries series. They have requested the Abracadabra series and it looks similar to the A to Z series.

There is apparently a Judy Moody Girl Detective series that is a big hit with the girls this year. They are geared for grades 1-3 and have alot of Nancy Drew references. I think boys would also enjoy this series but no girl could ever know about it!

They find most of the books they request on the Scholastic web site. They give detailed descriptions and the prices are pretty reasonable. I use the school's password so their teachers can get free books for the classroom.

There are also a couple series that are a little more advanced: Alex Rider, Mysterious Benedict Society. My 10 yr old has these on his wanted list but I haven't researched them yet so not sure if I would recommend them.

Also wanted to mention the suggestions of Milrose Munce & Miss Peregrine-I enjoyed them very much as well as the Circle of Heck series; but in my opinion they were just way to 'out there' for the kids.

ApK · 10-10-2011, 10:18 AM

Cool stuff! (Encyclopedia Brown? Wow, he's still around?!)
Does Scholastic do ebooks, do you know?

speakingtohe · 10-10-2011, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Also wanted to mention the suggestions of Milrose Munce & Miss Peregrine-I enjoyed them very much as well as the Circle of Heck series; but in my opinion they were just way to 'out there' for the kids.

Perhaps you are right. My employers children (4 and 6) struggled with Miss Perigrine which they read together without too much bickering going on, but seemed okay with Milrose Munce.

They also read Bunnicula and Down the Rabbit Hole which seemed to me a bit more challenging vocabulary wise. (I judge that strictly on how many times they asked me what a word means)

Could be wrong but they don't seem more 'out there' than Hansel and Gretel, Grimms Bluebeard or Little Red Riding Hood.

Helen

bert501 · 10-11-2011, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApK

Cool stuff! (Encyclopedia Brown? Wow, he's still around?!)
Does Scholastic do ebooks, do you know?

Scholastic is just regular books and audiobooks for now

bert501 · 10-11-2011, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Perhaps you are right. My employers children (4 and 6) struggled with Miss Perigrine which they read together without too much bickering going on, but seemed okay with Milrose Munce.

They also read Bunnicula and Down the Rabbit Hole which seemed to me a bit more challenging vocabulary wise. (I judge that strictly on how many times they asked me what a word means)

Could be wrong but they don't seem more 'out there' than Hansel and Gretel, Grimms Bluebeard or Little Red Riding Hood.

Helen

It may have been bad timing when I read them-lots of serious 'family/life' stuff at the time so the books seemed very dark to me. The boys both just love fairy tales and won't give 10 cents for any watered down Disney versions lol So we may have to take another look at these particular titles down the road.

JaneD · 10-12-2011, 12:56 PM

My son loves the Goosebumps series - while they have more of a sci-fi slant, there is always a mystery element of the kids trying to figure out how to get out of their predicament.

RainingLemur · 10-12-2011, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaneD

My son loves the Goosebumps series - while they have more of a sci-fi slant, there is always a mystery element of the kids trying to figure out how to get out of their predicament.

I remember reading the entire Goosebumps series. I owned every single one. Oh, man... Those books made me feel like I was a genius since I could plow through 5 or 6 of them in a few hours. Formulaic as all get out, but they were amusing tales to say the least.

10-07-2011, 10:32 AM	#1
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,316 Karma: 67862884 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	Contemporary kid's mysteries My 8-year-old son likes mystery and spy stories, but he seems to be only interested right now in more contemporary style...no vintage Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, etc. Anyone have any suggestions for him, especially stuff that can be found free or cheap? He's enjoyed A-to-Z Mysteries and the like, as well as the indi 'KK Undercover' books, for example. ApK

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10-08-2011, 07:09 PM	#2
misspout Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: none	Encyclopedia Brown series?

10-09-2011, 07:16 AM	#4
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	Eoin Colfer - Artemis fowl series (library?) Douglas Anthony Cooper Milrose Munce and the den of professional help (free) Terry Pratchett has quite a few good children's books 39 Clues various authors The Five Find-Outers Enid Blyton Skulduggery Pleasant Derek Landy Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Ransom Riggs

10-10-2011, 10:08 AM	#5
bert501 Connoisseur Posts: 68 Karma: 263126 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Missouri, USA Device: Kindle	My boys are 10 & 7. They LOVE any of the Scooby Doo mysteries. Also Magic Tree House is awesome. The oldest enjoyed 39 Clues series and the Cabin Creek Mysteries series. They have requested the Abracadabra series and it looks similar to the A to Z series. There is apparently a Judy Moody Girl Detective series that is a big hit with the girls this year. They are geared for grades 1-3 and have alot of Nancy Drew references. I think boys would also enjoy this series but no girl could ever know about it! They find most of the books they request on the Scholastic web site. They give detailed descriptions and the prices are pretty reasonable. I use the school's password so their teachers can get free books for the classroom. There are also a couple series that are a little more advanced: Alex Rider, Mysterious Benedict Society. My 10 yr old has these on his wanted list but I haven't researched them yet so not sure if I would recommend them. Also wanted to mention the suggestions of Milrose Munce & Miss Peregrine-I enjoyed them very much as well as the Circle of Heck series; but in my opinion they were just way to 'out there' for the kids.

10-10-2011, 10:18 AM	#6
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,316 Karma: 67862884 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	Cool stuff! (Encyclopedia Brown? Wow, he's still around?!) Does Scholastic do ebooks, do you know?

10-12-2011, 12:56 PM	#10
JaneD Addict Posts: 322 Karma: 1057749 Join Date: May 2010 Location: LA, CA Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2013	My son loves the Goosebumps series - while they have more of a sci-fi slant, there is always a mystery element of the kids trying to figure out how to get out of their predicament.