Riveting Middle Grade Mysteries for Puzzle-Loving Kids
I imagine most schools across the U.S. are back in session, and I hope everyone’s school year is starting out great. I reviewed some back-to-school picture books about a month ago, if you’re looking for some recommendations. Today, I’m reviewing four fantastic new middle grade mysteries, plus two new releases by Indigenous American authors.
New Children’s Books Out This Week
On Powwow Day by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight
This is a wonderful new basic concepts board book by award-winning Cherokee author Traci Sorell, set during a powwow. Each page spread shows a scene from a powwow with a number and color. For example, two drumsticks beat on a family drum, and Sorell asks young readers to identify which part of the drum is orange. It’s rhythmic and engaging, and I love the warm illustrations by Goodnight.
Boozhoo! / Hello! by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, translated by Mary Ann Corbiere
This vibrant and adorable picture book is written in both English and Anishinaabemowin. It’s similar to Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?, following animals in a nature setting and asking what each animal sees or hears. It then ends with the children ready for bedtime. I love the illustrations, which look like wood carvings, and the animal expressions.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
New Middle Grade Mystery Books
A couple of really excellent middle grade mysteries are releasing today, so I thought I’d round up a few more from this year!
The Sherlock Society by James Ponti
School is out for the summer for Alex and Zoe Sherlock, just in time to start a detective club with two of their friends. They do have a perfect last name for detective work, after all. Their mother quickly foils their detective agency plans, but their journalist grandfather comes to their aid by suggesting the quartet attempt to solve some of his cold cases. They decide to find the location of Al Capone’s missing treasure, but in the process, they discover an environmental mystery that turns out to be a lot more important to solve. This is a fast-paced mystery and the first in a planned series.
The Queen of Ocean Parkway by Sarvenaz Tash
This clever new stand-alone mystery has a magical twist. 11-year-old Roya wants to be an investigative journalist when she grows up and currently has a podcast where she unravels mysteries concerning her apartment neighbors. When she overhears her favorite neighbors discussing a family curse and mysterious disappearances in the laundry room, she immediately takes note (literally, she brings a notebook everywhere she goes). Then one of those neighbors disappears, and it’s all connected to a fortune-telling machine on Coney Island. With the help of the new kid in the building, the two begin to investigate, and they discover a time-traveling mystery that they need to unravel fast to save the missing neighbor.
The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie
This is another clever mystery about finding lost treasure, this time centering escape rooms. Twelve-year-old Sarah Greene and her two best friends love puzzles and escape rooms. Sarah’s dad has chronic fatigue syndrome and can no longer work. When a foreclosure notice arrives in the mail, Sarah enlists the help of her two friends to pull off the hardest puzzle of their life. According to rumors, in the 1950s, three brothers built a funhouse maze with buried treasure hidden within. Sarah wants the trio to try and find that treasure to save her family home.
The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues by Beth Lincoln, illustrated by Claire Powell
This is the second book in a delightful and funny middle grade mystery series. The first book, The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels, released last year. The first book is a murder mystery, and this second is a museum art heist. When a painting is stolen from the Swifts’ home, siblings Shenanigan, Phenomena, and Maelstrom travel to Paris to unravel the mystery with the help of their cousins. It’s a charming and fun series, and I’m looking forward to reading more!
Bookish Good
Have a Bookish Birthday by LPHP
My spouse celebrated his 40th birthday this week. I should’ve given him this birthday card! $5
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Our daughter loves the show SuperKitties, so for my spouse’s birthday cake, she chose SuperKitties decorations.
If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, X @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.
