.

Middle School Mysteries

Allison, Jennifer. Gilda Joyce Psychic Investigator

The summer before ninth grade, Gilda invites herself to the San Francisco mansion of her mother’s cousin, where she uses her purported psychic abilities and detective skills to solve the mystery of the mansion’s boarded-up tower. 
 
Balliett, Blue. The Calder Game
When seventh-grader Calder Pillay disappears from a remote English village--along with an Alexander Calder sculpture to which he has felt strangely drawn--his friends Petra and Tommy fly from Chicago to help his father find him. 
 
As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from “normal teenage life” until she meets a local boy while on a surveillance mission. 
 
Kayla Callaway has prima ballerina grace and her heart set on a future in dance, but her proportions just got her cast as an ugly stepsister in a production of Cinderella. Kayla's disappointment makes her a prime suspect when the dance troupe receives a string of threatening messages. 
 
Twelve-year-old private investigator Fletcher Moon, nicknamed “Half Moon” because of his shortness, must track down a conspiracy or be framed for a crime he did not commit. 
 
Dowd, Siobhan. The London Eye Mystery
When Ted and Kat's cousin Salim disappears from the London Eye ferris wheel, the two siblings must work together to try to solve the mystery of what happened to Salim. 

Eighth-grade sports reporters Susan Carol and Stevie reunite at the U.S. Open tennis championships where they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a top Russian player. 
 
Fourteen-year-old Lexie is only at peace while using her computer, so when her mother dies suddenly, Lexie tries to connect with her online and not only discovers that her mother was murdered, she learns that her father's new girlfriend is big trouble. 
 
Golding, Julia. Diamond of Drury Lane
Orphan Catherine "Cat" Royal, living at the Drury Lane Theater in 1790s London, tries to find the "diamond" supposedly hidden in the theater, which unmasks a treasonous political cartoonist, and involves her in the street gangs of Covent Garden and the world of nobility. 
 
Hiaasen, Carl. Flush
Noah’s dad is sure the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor, and his kids, Noah and Abbey, try to help him prove it. 
 
McNab, Andy and Robert Rigby. Traitor
A boy tracks down his grandfather to learn the truth of whether or not he really had been a spy. 
 
Mitchell, Todd. Traitor King
When ten-year-old Darren and his family show up at their family reunion and find their Uncle Will missing, Darren and his sister go in search of clues to discover what happened. 
 
Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast. 
 
Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me
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. 
 
When cats mysteriously disappear in Santa Martina, 13-year-old friends Sammy and Holly start snooping around town to find out what is happening. 
 
Weatherly, Lee. Missing Abby
As the last one to see 13-year-old Abby, Emma feels guilty about ending their friendship and is determined to discover the truth about her mysterious disappearance. 
 
compiled by Laura Panter, December 2009

 

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