Because I am married to a school librarian, I am very much aware of the need to get children interested in reading - to give them the idea that reading is something they do not just because they have to, but because they want to. It is also no secret that a lot of children love mysteries of all sorts.
So it's worth repeating from time to time, as I try to do here, that there are a great many mysteries that are appropriate for kids and are also a great deal of fun to read. I mention it again today because a reader named Jay Smith sent me a link today to a blog post on "The 9 Best Mystery Books for Kids." I haven't read some of them, but agree - wholeheartedly - with the number one choice: Ellen Raskin's brilliant, "The Westing Game" - a book which I'd recommend for adults as well as children.
I wrote about "The Westing Game" here last year, as part of my contribution to the Children's Classics Mystery Challenge organized at the 5 Minutes for Books blog. It's perfect for showing young readers the joys of the traditional mystery - where they are given all the clues, yet are very likely to find themselves led astray by clever red herrings. I'm sure most of my readers will have ideas of their own (and no, I haven't forgotten the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew or Encyclopedia Brown), and I invite you to leave suggestions in the comments.
I remember my early days of mystery reading. I tired of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew eventually, but then again, I had read Sherlock Holmes before them... (Not quite sure how that worked.)
There was a series of books absed on the TV series "Wishbone" that I vividly recall reading, and I know that one of them had a reference to JDC's "The Hollow Man". When I finished reading AC, I asked for advice on what author to start next. Someone gave me JDC's name, it instantly cliked, and from there we all know the story.
There's a remarkable series of Polish mysteries for youngsters, but they haven't been translated to my knowledge. They have some very creative scenarios- haunted houses, impossible thefts of paintings from galleries, a man who claims to be an alien... Unfortunately, the solutions are poor, almost always involving a gang of artifact smugglers. And once you switch from an individual culprit to an entire gang being responsible, you can get away with vaguely explaining a lot of creative scenarios.
Posted by: Patrick | October 05, 2011 at 07:33 AM
I also started my mystery reading with Sherlock Holmes, Patrick. In high school, I began devouring Carr and Christie and other great authors. For the Children's Classics Mystery Challenge last year, I did review several more books, with a pretty good assortment of plots. If they're good and if they get kids to enjoy reading, and crave more, that's fine with me!
Posted by: Les Blatt | October 05, 2011 at 07:19 PM
I am a Young Adult Librarian and have been excited about some of the really great mysteries for kids and teens that have come out in the past few years. One of my favorites is a three book series by Blue Balliett. The first is Chasing Vermeer and takes place in Chicago. It is a really great read for both adults and kids. An additional feature are the illustrations, which offer a fun puzzle of their own. I highly recommend all three books in this series. They are also an especially fun read if you are at all familiar with Chicago.
Posted by: Jennifer | October 06, 2011 at 01:18 PM
Agreed, Jennifer - in fact, I reviewed "Chasing Vermeer" as another entry in that challenge; the review is at http://www.classicmysteries.net/2010/03/childrens-mystery-challenge-the-art-of-the-mystery-or-viceversa-part-2.html . My wife also agrees with you about the other books in the series. Thanks for the suggestion!
Posted by: Les Blatt | October 06, 2011 at 03:50 PM
I don't know where my head was when I read this post last week, but there is a blog called Sleuths, Spies and Alibis at http://sleuthsspiesandalibis.blogspot.com/
by mystery writers of middle grade and young adult mystery books. Maybe it will be useful.
Posted by: Alex Baugh | October 11, 2011 at 08:13 AM
Thanks for the link, Alex. As I said, anything that gets kids reading is a great thing - and if it gets them reading the kind of books we enjoy here, that's an added benefit.
Posted by: Les Blatt | October 11, 2011 at 07:01 PM
The Westing Game is one of my all-time favorites! Thanks for this post.
And thanks for mentioning our Sleuths, Spies and Alibis (http://sleuthsspiesandalibis.blogspot.com/) blog, Alex. We've just recently started getting things up and running, so it's nice to see it's useful. We have interviews with kids' mystery authors several times a month, kids' mystery recommendations, writing prompts for writers and kids, and blogs about our own writing process (we're a group of authors with debuts in 2012 and 2013). I'm glad you're helping us get the word out.
- Kristen Kittscher (The Wig in the Window, Harper Children's, early 2013)
Posted by: Kristen Kittscher | October 19, 2011 at 04:24 PM
It looks like an interesting site, Kristen. I've passed the URL along to my school-librarian wife, who, I think, will enjoy it. Good luck with your own writing!
Posted by: Les Blatt | October 19, 2011 at 05:17 PM