Thursday, April 29, 2010

Booklist's Top Crime Fiction for Youth

(Title suggestions from Booklist, May 1st; descriptions from Lancaster Public Library's OPAC)
The case of the stinky socks by Lewis B. Montgomery ; illustrated by Amy Wummer. 2009. (grades 2-4) Detectives-in-training Milo and Jazz join forces to tackle their first big case--finding out who stole the lucky socks from the high school baseball team's star pitcher.

Cat burglar black Richard Sala. 2009. (grades 7-10) K.'s aunt, who works at the Bellsong Academy for Girls, has invited K. to attend the school. But as soon as she arrives, K. notices some strange goings-on: her aunt has suddenly taken ill; there are only three other students and no regular classes; and a statue speaks to K. when no one else is around.

The Dunderheads Paul Fleischman ; illustrated by David Roberts. 2009. (grades 3-5) When Miss Breakbone confiscates Junkyard's crucial find, Wheels, Pencil, Spider, and the rest of the Dunderheads plot to teach her a lesson.

Gentlemen Michael Northrop. 2009. (grades 10-12) When three teenaged boys suspect that their English teacher is responsible for their friend's disappearance, they must navigate a maze of assorted clues, fraying friendships, violence, and Dostoevsky's "Crime and punishment" before learning the truth.

The knife that killed me Anthony McGowan. 2010. (grades 10-12) Paul Varderman, a secondary student in an English Catholic School, is a loner until, just as he is becoming friends with "the freaks," the school bully encourages Paul to join his gang and gives him a knife to carry as an incentive.

Murder at midnight Avi. 2009. (grades 5-8) Falsely accused of plotting to overthrow King Claudio, scholarly Mangus the magician, along with his street-smart servant boy, Fabrizio, face deadly consequences unless they can track down the real traitor by the stroke of midnight.

The secret science alliance and the copycat crook [created, written & drawn by] Eleanor Davis. 2009. (grades 4-6) Eleven-year-old Julian Calendar thought changing schools would mean leaving his "nerdy" persona behind, but instead he forms an alliance with fellow inventors Greta and Ben and works with them to prevent an adult from using one of their gadgets for nefarious purposes.

What really happened to Humpty? : from the files of a hard- by Joe Dumpty ; as told to Jeanie Franz Ransom ; illustrated. 2009. (grades 1-4) Detective Joe Dumpty rushes to investigate the mysterious circumstances under which his older brother, Humpty, fell from a wall on his first day as captain of the new Neighborhood Watch program.

When you reach me Rebecca Stead. 2009.
When you reach me [sound recording] / Rebecca Stead. (grades 4-7) As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

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