by Elise Broach

I wish this book existed when I was in fifth grade.  I know what it’s like to be Hero Netherfield, the weird new kid who is so easy to tease.  This move will be different for Hero, though.  She befriends the woman who lives next door and finds out that her family’s new house holds a big secret.  The secret might even be connected to the true identity of William Shakespeare! This is a fun puzzle to try to solve along with Hero.

by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Nothing happens in the town of Manod.  In fact, it’s so boring, the town newspaper only comes out once a month.  Dylan Hughes keeps the log book for his family’s petrol (gas) business, the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel, but things are about to change for him and his family.  Mysterious white vans have begun passing the Oasis on their way to the abandoned slate quarry on the mountain, and Dylan wants to know what’s going on.

This book could be a bit challenging to American readers because of British terminology and some Welsh words, but it’s totally worth it.

A hint: if you liked Chasing Vermeer, you might like this one.

Sophie is the oldest of three girls and she knows she has very little hope of an interesting future. When her family runs into money problems, Sophie’s sisters go off to be apprentices and Sophie stays home to work in the family’s hat business. Meanwhile, a mysterious castle appears on the horizon, said to be home to a young wizard who likes to suck the souls of young girls. After Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waste, she ends up making a bargain with the demon who powers the moving castle. She will help the demon break his contract with the Wizard Howl, and the demon will break the curse on her.

I stayed up all night to finish this book and absolutely loved it. Diana Wynne Jones consistently writes wonderful, fascinating, mysterious, and magical tales.

After three people receive mysterious letters and a famous painting is stolen, sixth-graders Calder and Petra work together to solve the crime and save the painting.

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet is aimed to younger readers, but don’t let the young characters and big print fool you. It’s a fun puzzle to solve, especially if you’re interested in mysteries, codes, and art. If your younger brother or sister leaves it lying around, sneak it away for a few hours.

The illustrations were done by Brett Helquist, who also does the illustrations for the Lemony Snicket books.

Scholastic page about Chasing Vermeer
A review from Kidsreads.com
Chasing Vermeer to become a movie (warning, if you’re on a slow connection or not using Firefox, it’s an about.com page= lots of popups!)
A gifted education teacher’s page of games based on Chasing Vermeer. (This one’s targeted more to teachers.)
See who else is reading this on All Consuming

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is a fun puzzle of a book about eight heirs (and a mistake) trying to solve the mystery of a man’s death so they can inherit his millions. The heirs, who live in the same apartment building, are paired up and given bits of clues to try to find out who killed Sam Westing. Meanwhile, strange messages are left on the building’s impromptu message board, and someone appears to be trying to blow the heirs up. Who will solve the mystery? Who killed Sam Westing?

Although this is a book for younger readers (age 10 and up), it has several teenage characters. Trying to solve the mystery could be fun for teens as well. Just when you think you’ve solved it, Raskin throws in a twist. It doesn’t take very long to read, so it’s great for those times when you don’t have the time or energy for a long, complicated book.

Reviews by Students:

A review by a student in New York

A review by a student in Texas

Reviews by Adults:
Teenreads.com review

Related Links:

All Consuming page about the book (Not YA specific)
A Thinkquest about the book

A Books-n-Bytes page about Ellen Raskin
Wisconsin authors and illustrators page about Ellen Raskin

Have you read this book? What do you think of it?
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