Stated grade levels are a starting point only. Reading levels and topic (subject) appropriateness should always be considered with the individual reader in mind.
Grades 1-2
Animal at Large (Mysteries on Zoo Lane #2) by Patricia Reilly Giff
A missing animal at the zoo and strange noises coming from her backyard can mean only one thing for Tori: she's got a mystery to solve!
Tori loves living on Zoo Lane with her family. Who else gets to live at a zoo--and with her cousin Sumiko visiting from Tokyo soon, this is shaping up to be the best summer ever! But when rumors of a missing animal start to spread, Tori is on the case . . . except she doesn't know which creature is on the loose. An ostrich? A little frog? There's also a strange noise coming from her backyard. It almost sounds like someone is calling her name! Tori is on the case.
In this second book in the illustrated series, two-time Newbery Honor author Patricia Reilly Giff has crafted a charming story about conservation, animal care, friendship, and problem-solving. In touch with the programs and initiatives that today's zoos are undertaking, Giff provides readers with a fresh look at the work of zoologists. Charming line artwork by Abby Carter appears throughout and keeps the story upbeat.
Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick
Who is Baby Monkey?
He is a baby.
He is a monkey.
He has a job.
He is Baby Monkey, Private Eye!
Lost jewels?
Missing pizza?
Stolen spaceship?
Baby Monkey can help...
if he can put on his pants!
Baby Monkey's adventures come to life in an exciting blend of picture book, beginning reader, and graphic novel. With pithy text and over 120 black and white drawings accented with red, it is ideal for sharing aloud and for emerging readers.
Hooray for Baby Monkey!
The Case of the Hat Burglar (Jigsaw Jones #33) by James Preller
Jigsaw Jones is back! A brand new original mystery, The Case of the Hat Burglar is the newest installment of the Jigsaw Jones chapter book series by James Preller.
Someone’s been stealing from the lost and found. But the strangest part of this mystery is what they’ve been stealing. Not mittens, or books, or water bottles―only hats! Just when Jigsaw comes up with a plan to catch this hat burglar in the act, the mystery thief strikes again right under his nose! Will this be the first case Jigsaw and Mila can’t solve?
Sure to delight and intrigue young minds in equal measure, this never-before-published mystery chapter book is full of charming illustrations and James Preller's signature humor and warmth.
The Case of the Missing Cheetah (Secret Spy Society #1) by Veronica Mang
The first book in a highly illustrated new chapter book series about three delightfully mischievous young girls and some of the most enigmatic women in history who worked as spies.
It's a dark and stormy night when three sleuthing little girls get pulled into a web of mystery. They have mistakenly uncovered a secret society of some of the most famous female spies in history. A glamorous spy named Josephine Baker enlists the girls to find out who has kidnapped Chiquita, her precious pet cheetah. Do the girls have what it takes to become spies themselves?
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1) by Mary Pope Osborne
Where did the tree house come from?
Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark…or will they become a dinosaur’s dinner?
Did you know that there’s a Magic Tree House book for every kid?
Magic Tree House: Adventures with Jack and Annie, perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin Missions: More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Super Edition: A longer and more dangerous adventure
Fact Trackers: Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures
Investigators: Braver and Boulder (Investigators #5)
by John Patrick Green
The InvestiGators’ latest case has our sewer-loving secret agents between a rock and a hard place in InvestiGators: Braver and Boulder, the latest chapter in the hilarious New York Times bestselling adventure graphic novel series from John Patrick Green.
The InvestiGators are having a hard time keeping a low profile with their new headquarters being a giant robot towering over the city! How can they be SECRET agents if everyone recognizes them?
But with their ears to the ground, Mango and Brash hear mysterious rumblings about BOULDER BUDDIES...are they just the latest fad or part of a mob-run scheme? And could a rocky relationship from the InvestiGators’ past be trembling beneath the surface? Find out in their most stone-cold dangerous mission yet!
Little Penguin and the Mysterious Object by Tadgh Bentley
Little Penguin solves his first mystery in this hilarious new I Can Read! adventure by Little Penguin Gets the Hiccups author Tadgh Bentley.
For new readers who are fans of Mo Willems’s Elephant and Piggie series and Adam Rubin’s Dragons Love Tacos.
Little Penguin has found something. But he’s not sure what it could possibly be. Luckily, penguins are great detectives—and he and his friends are on the case!
Will they be able to solve the mystery?
Little Penguin and the Mysterious Object is a Level One I Can Read book, which means it’s perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences.
Mountain Top Mystery (The Boxcar Children: Time to Read) by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Boxcar Children are hiking up a mountain when a rockslide reveals a cave with a big secret! Adapted from Gertrude Chandler Warner's story of the same name, this early reader allows children to start reading with a Boxcar Children classic.
Mystery in the Mansion (Closed Case #1) by Lauren Magaziner
Pick-your-own-path and puzzle-packed mystery collide in the first book in Lauren Magaziner’s hilarious and high-stakes three-book middle grade series in which the reader must help Carlos and his friends put together the clues to save his mom’s detective agency.
In this wildly entertaining and interactive adventure, YOU pick which suspects to interview, which questions to ask, and which clues to follow. You pick the path—you crack the case!
Carlos Serrano has never solved a mystery in his life. But when Carlos’s mom gets sick with a flu on the morning of an investigation that could save her failing detective agency, Carlos takes on the case.
With the help of his best friend, Eliza, and her wild little brother, Frank, Carlos must uncover a mystery involving an eccentric local millionaire, anonymous death threats, and a buried treasure. But with tricky riddles, cagey suspects, hidden secrets, and dozens of impossible choices, they need your help!
Can you help Carlos and his friends find the culprit and save Las Pistas Detective Agency? Or will it be case closed?
Nate the Great and Me: The Case of the Fleeing Fang (Nate the Great #21) by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
These chapter books introduce beginning readers to the detective mystery genre. Perfect for the Common Core, kids can problem-solve with Nate, using logical thinking to solve mysteries!
Nate the Great needs your help. Annie's dog, Fang, is missing! That's what Nate discovers when his friends throw him a surprise Happy Detective Day party. Where is Fang? As you and Nate track down clues--Fang was learning tricks for the party; he was seen running away from two tiny poodles and following a lady wearing fluffy-bunny shoes--Nate will share his expert detective skills with you so you can sharpen your sleuthing talents.
Sherlock Bones and the Natural History Mystery (Sherlock Bones #2) by Renee Tremi
An action-packed graphic novel mystery with gentle humor and Bad Guys–style illustrations, perfect for dinosaur-loving emerging readers.
Hi there, I'm Sherlock Bones. Who is Sherlock Bones, you ask? Well, I don’t like to brag, but my trusty side-kick Watts says I’m the greatest detective in our whole museum. Don’t you, Watts? Watts . . . ? Sherlock Bones and his sidekick, a stuffed parrot named Watts, live in a natural history museum. So when the precious Royal Blue Diamond goes missing, they are first on the case. What they don’t expect is Grace, a silly, new-to-the-scene raccoon who keeps getting in the way. Even worse, Bones and Watts learn that if the diamond isn’t recovered, the museum could (GASP!) close! Can they find the diamond before they’re forced to find another home?
What Really Happened to Humpty? by Jeanie Franz Ransom
A Mother Goose mystery that will have readers wondering ‘Who done it?”. In this fast-paced, nursery-rhyme caper, hardboiled detective, Joe Dumpty does his darnedest to crack the case. It all started when Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Then, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Or—as his brother Detective Joe Dumpty thinks—was he pushed? Suspects are aplenty (as are the puns) in this scrambled noir. Detective Dumpty works his way through the list of suspects, that hail from the pages of Mother Goose, in order to get to the bottom of what really happened to his brother.
This fractured fairy-tale mystery is full of whimsy and wordplay that will delight readers of all ages.
(Young Cam Jansen Mysteries #13) by David Adler
A field trip to the zoo is fun for Cam Jansen and her classmates—until lunchtime. Everyone else’s sandwich is safely delivered, but Danny can’t find his anywhere! Only Cam and her amazing memory can crack this mystery.
Grades 3-4
The Absent Author (A to Z Mysteries #1) by Ron Roy
August Isle by AliStandish
From critically acclaimed author Ali Standish (The Ethan I Was Before), the story of one girl’s journey to a magical seaside town, where she uncovers her family’s long hidden secrets and ultimately finds truth and redemption.
Fans of Sharon Creech and Rebecca Stead will be captivated by this story filled with warm humor, mystery, whimsy, and characters you can’t let go. A modern classic in the making!
For years, Miranda has stared at postcards of August Isle, Florida. The town where her mother spent her summers as a girl. The town that Miranda has always ached to visit. She just never wanted it to happen this way.
When she arrives on the Isle, alone and uncertain, to stay the summer with an old friend of her mother’s, Miranda discovers a place even more perfect than she imagined. And she finds a new friend in Sammy, “Aunt” Clare’s daughter.
But there is more to August Isle than its bright streets and sandy beaches, and soon Miranda is tangled in a web of mysteries. A haunted lighthouse. An old seafarer with something to hide. A name reaching out from her mother’s shadowy past.
As she closes in on answers, Miranda must reckon with the biggest question of all: Is she brave enough to face the truth she might uncover?
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery (Bunnicula #1) by Deborah Howe
The Case of Hermie the Missing Hamster (Jigsaw Jones Mystery #1) by James Preller
The Chicken Squad the First Misadventure (Chicken Squad Misadventure #1)
by Doreen Cronin
Cici's Journal: The Adventures of a Writer-In-Training (Cici's Journal) by Joris Chamblain
Cici dreams of being a novelist. Her favorite subject: people, especially adults. She’s been watching them and taking notes. Everybody has one special secret, Cici figures, and if you want to write about people, you need to understand what’s hiding inside them. But now she’s discovered something truly strange: an old man who disappears into the forest every Sunday with huge pots of paint in all sorts of colors. What is he up to? Why does he look so sad when he comes back?
The Clue in the Papyrus Scroll (The Boxcar Children Great Adventure #2)
by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Crow Country by Kate Constable
From the author of the Chanters of Tremaris series comes a contemporary time travel fantasy, grounded in the landscape of Australia
Beginning and ending, always the same, always now. The game, the story, the riddle, hiding and seeking. Crow comes from this place; this place comes from Crow. And Crow has work for you.
Sadie isn't thrilled when her mother drags her from the city to live in the country town of Boort. But soon she starts making connections—with the country, with the past, with two boys, Lachie and Walter, and, most surprisingly, with the ever-present crows. When Sadie is tumbled back in time to view a terrible crime, she is pulled into a strange mystery. Can Sadie, Walter, and Lachie figure out a way to right old wrongs, or will they be condemned to repeat them? A fantasy ground in mythology, this novel has the backing of a full consultative process on the use of indigenous lore.
The Dollhouse by Charis Cotter
A creepy, mysterious dollhouse takes center stage in this atmospheric middle-grade mystery for fans of Doll Bones and Small Spaces.
Alice's world is falling apart. Her parents are getting a divorce, and they've cancelled their yearly cottage trip -- the one thing that gets Alice through the school year. Instead, Alice and her mom are heading to some small town where Alice's mom will be a live-in nurse to a rich elderly lady.
The house is huge, imposing and spooky, and everything inside is meticulously kept and perfect -- not a fun place to spend the summer. Things start to get weird when Alice finds a dollhouse in the attic that's an exact replica of the house she's living in. Then she wakes up to find a girl asleep next to her in her bed -- a girl who looks a lot like one of the dolls from the dollhouse . . .
When the dollhouse starts to change when Alice isn't looking, she knows she has to solve the mystery. Who are the girls in the dollhouse? What happened to them? And what is their connection to the mean and mysterious woman who owns the house?
Drew Leclair: Gets a Clue (Drew Leclair #1) by Katryn Bury
In this modern take on Harriet the Spy, twelve-year-old Drew uses her true crime expertise to catch the cyberbully in her school—only to discover that family, friendship, and identity are the hardest mysteries to solve.
Drew Leclair knows what it takes to be a great detective. She’s pored over the cases solved by her hero, criminal profiler Lita Miyamoto. She tracked down the graffiti artist at school, and even solved the mystery of her neighbor’s missing rabbit. But when her mother runs off to Hawaii with the school guidance counselor, Drew is shocked. How did she miss all of the clues?
Drew is determined to keep her family life a secret, even from her best friend. But when a cyberbully starts posting embarrassing rumors about other students at school, it’s only a matter of time before Drew’s secret is out.
Armed with her notebooks full of observations about her classmates, Drew knows what she has to do: profile all of the bullies in her grade to find the culprit. But being a detective is more complicated when the suspects can be your friends. Will Drew crack the case if it means losing the people she cares about most?
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective (Encyclopedia Brown #1) by Donald Sobol
The Game Master: Mansion Mystery by Rebecca Zamolo
New York Times bestselling authors and creators of the mega-popular YouTube series Game Master Network Matt and Rebecca Zamolo return with a brand-new adventure about everyone’s favorite mystery-solving team.
Rebecca Zamolo has managed to foil the Game Master’s plans before, but this time the Game Master has snake-napped Nacho, her good friend Miguel’s pet. No way is Becca going to let the Game Master get away with this dastardly plan. But when the clues lead Becca and her new friends in the direction of the one house in their entire neighborhood that none of them ever want to go near, they know they have no choice but to screw up their courage and dare to investigate, if they want to rescue Nacho.
But the problem is that getting into the superspooky house is way easier than getting out. The Game Master is up to their old tricks, and Becca, Matt, Kylie, Frankie, and Miguel are going to have to face their fears and use all their smarts and strengths to solve the puzzles and games and save the day.
The Great Cake Mystery (Precious Ramotswe's Very First Cases #1) by Andrew McCall Smith
Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
Harriet, the Spy (Harriet the Spy #1) by Louise Fitzhugh
The Haunted Library (The Haunted Library #1) by Dori Hillestad Butler
Inspector Flytrap (Inspector Flytrap #1) by Tom Angleberger Judy Moody: Girl Detective (Judy Moody #9) by Megan McDonald
The Keeper by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Inspired by a terrifying true story, acclaimed author Guadalupe Garcia McCall creates a twisty tale about a boy desperately trying to survive in a new town with a secret past.
James always knew moving from Texas to Oregon was going to be horrible.. But no sooner have he and his family arrived in their "perfect" new home in their "perfect" new town than he starts getting mysterious letters from someone called the Keeper. Someone who claims to be watching him. Someone who is looking for “young blood.”
James and his sister, Ava, are obviously in danger. But the problem with having a history of playing practical jokes is that no one believes James—not even his parents. Now James and Ava need to figure out who is sending the letters before they become the next victims in their neighborhood’s long history of missing children.
Because one thing is clear: Uncovering the truth about the Keeper is the only thing that will keep them alive.
The Leak: For the Love of Truth by Kate Reed Petty
In this compelling middle-grade graphic novel The Leak, Ruth, a young journalist, is determined to uncover a secret that threatens her town.
Ruth Keller is brash and precocious; she argues with her dentist, her parents, and her teachers. So, when she discovers a strange black slime in the man-made lake of her suburban neighborhood, she decides to investigate. Fortified by the encouragement of those around her, Ruth seeks the truth at all costs, even if it means taking on the rich local country club owner, who she believes is responsible for the pollution.
Between the teasing of former friends, and a sudden viral spotlight, Ruth discovers how difficult it is for a journalist to take a stand for what's right in the face of critique and controversy. From writer Kate Reed Petty and illustrator Andrea Bell, comes a story about corruption, pollution, and freedom of the press, and the young journalist at the center of it all.
The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues #1) by Rick Riordan
Midnight at the Barclay Hotel by Fleur Bradley
Hunting ghosts and solving the case before checkout? All in a weekend's work.
When JJ Jacobson convinced his mom to accept a surprise invitation to an all-expenses-paid weekend getaway at the illustrious Barclay Hotel, he never imagined that he'd find himself in the midst of a murder mystery. He thought he was in for a run-of-the-mill weekend ghost hunting at the most haunted spot in town, but when he arrives at the Barclay Hotel and his mother is blamed for the hotel owner's death, he realizes his weekend is going to be anything but ordinary.
Now, with the help of his new friends, Penny and Emma, JJ has to track down a killer, clear his mother's name, and maybe even meet a ghost or two along the way.
The Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds (Cam Jansen Mysteries #1) by David Adler
Mysteries According to Humphrey (According to Humphrey #8) by Betty Birney Nancy Clancy: Super Sleuth (Nancy Clancy Chapter Books #1) by Jane O’Conner
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog (Hank the Cowdog #1) by John Erickson
Ottoline and the Yellow Cat (Ottoline #1) by Chris Riddell
The Ride that Was Really Haunted (Field Trip Mysteries series) by Steve Brezenoff
The Secret Explorers and the Rainforest Rangers (The Secret Explorers #5) by S. J. King
Sleepover Sleuths (Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew #1) by Carolyn Keene
The Silver Arrow (The Silver Arrow #1) by Lev Grossman
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians comes a must-read, wholly original middle-grade debut perfect for fans of The Chronicles of Narnia and Roald Dahl.
Dear Uncle Herbert,
You've never met me, but I'm your niece Kate, and since it is my birthday tomorrow and you are super-rich could you please send me a present?
Kate and her younger brother Tom lead dull, uninteresting lives. And if their dull, uninteresting parents are anything to go by, they don't have much to look forward to. Why can't Kate have thrilling adventures and save the world the way people do in books? Even her 11th birthday is shaping up to be mundane -- that is, until her mysterious and highly irresponsible Uncle Herbert, whom she's never even met before, surprises her with the most unexpected, exhilarating, inappropriate birthday present of all time: a colossal steam locomotive called the Silver Arrow.
Kate and Tom's parents want to send it right back where it came from. But Kate and Tom have other ideas -- and so does the Silver Arrow -- and soon they're off to distant lands along magical rail lines in the company of an assortment of exotic animals who, it turns out, can talk. With only curiosity, excitement, their own resourcefulness and the thrill of the unknown to guide them, Kate and Tom are on the adventure of a lifetime . . . and who knows? They just might end up saving the world after all.
Wretched Waterpark (Sinister Summer #1) by White
A middle-grade mystery series that's spooky, creepy, and filled with gothic twists! Meet the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who solve mysteries at increasingly bizarre summer vacation destinations in the hopes of being reunited with their parents—or at the very least finally finding a good churro.
Meet the Sinister-Winterbottoms: brave Theo, her timid twin, Alexander, and their older sister, Wil. They’re stuck for the summer with their Aunt Saffronia, who doesn’t know how often children need to eat and can’t use a smartphone, and whose feet never quite seem to touch the floor when she glides—er—walks.
When Aunt Saffronia suggests a week pass to the Fathoms of Fun Waterpark, they hastily agree. But the park is even stranger than Aunt Saffronia. The waterslides look like gray gargoyle tongues. The employees wear creepy black dresses and deliver ominous messages. An impossible figure is at the top of the slide tower, people are disappearing, and suspicious goo is seeping into the wave pool.
Something mysterious is happening at Fathoms of Fun, and it’s up to the twins to get to the bottom of it. The mystery, that is. NOT the wave pool. Definitely NOT the wave pool. But are Theo and Alexander out of their depth?
Grades 5-6
Book Scavenger (The Book Scavenger #1) by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery (Enola Holmes #1)
by Nancy Springer Chasing Vermeer (Chasing Vermeer #1) by Blue Balliett and Brett Helquist
The Elephant's Girl by Celesta Rimington
A magical adventure for fans of Katherine Applegate and Jennifer Holm about a girl with a mysterious connection to the elephant who saved her life.
An elephant never forgets, but Lexington Willow can't remember her past. Swept away by a tornado as a toddler, she was dropped in a nearby Nebraska zoo, where an elephant named Nyah protected her from the storm. With no trace of her family, Lex grew up at the zoo with her foster father, Roger; her best friend, Fisher; and the wind whispering in her ear.
Years later, Nyah sends Lex a telepathic image of the woods outside the zoo. Soon, Lex is wrapped up in an adventure involving ghosts, lost treasure, and a puzzle that might be the key to finding her family. Can Lex summon the courage to discover who she really is--and why the tornado brought her here all those years ago?
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library (Mr. Lemoncello's Library #1) by Chris Grabenstein
File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents (All the Wrong Questions #2.5) by Lemony Snicket
The Forbiden Stone (The Copernicus Legacy #1) by Tony Abbott and Bill Perkins
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by Anne Troy
Ghosts of the Greenglass House (Greenglass House #2) by Kate Milford and Jaime Zollars
Golden Gate (City Spies #2) by James Ponti
In this second installment in the New York Times bestselling series from Edgar Award winner James Ponti, the young group of spies returns for another international adventure perfect for fans of Spy School and Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls.
After thwarting a notorious villain at an eco-summit in Paris, the City Spies are gearing up for their next mission. Operating out of a base in Scotland, this secret team of young agents working for the British Secret Intelligence Service’s MI6 division have honed their unique skills, such as sleight of hand, breaking and entering, observation, and explosives. All of these allow them to go places in the world of espionage where adults can’t.
Fourteen-year-old Sydney is a surfer and a rebel from Bondi Beach, Australia. She’s also a field ops specialist for the City Spies. Sydney is excited to learn that she’ll be going undercover on the marine research vessel the Sylvia Earle. But things don’t go exactly as planned, and while Sydney does find herself in the spotlight, it’s not in the way she was hoping.
Meanwhile, there’s been some new intel regarding a potential mole within the organization, offering the spies a lead that takes them to San Francisco, California. But as they investigate a spy who died at the Botanical Gardens, they discover that they are also being investigated. And soon, they’re caught up in an exciting adventure filled with rogue missions and double agents!
Hold Fast by Blue Balliett
The London Eye Mystery (London Eye Mystery #1) by Siobhan Dowd The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society #1)
by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Name of This Book is Secret (Secret #1) by Pseudonymous Bosch The Postman Always Brings Mice (The Stink Files #Dossier 001)
by Jennifer L. Holm & Jonathan Hamel The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
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