Elementary, My Dear Reader: Mysteries for Teens

Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams

“Ingrid Levin-Hill, three weeks past her thirteenth birthday, sat thinking in the orthodontist’s waiting room…”

Rat Life by Tedd Arnold

“A list of possible first lines: 1. A dead guy washed up from the river. I think a dead guy showing up is always a great way to start a story…”

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet

“On a warm October night in Chicago, three deliveries were made in the same neighborhood. A plump tangerine moon had just risen over Chicago…”

I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier

“I am riding the bicycle and I am on Route 31 in Monument, Massachusetts, on my way to Rutterburg, Vermont, and I am pedaling furiously…”

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

“When summer comes to the North Woods, time slows down. And some days it stops altogether….”

The Sammy Keyes Mysteries by Wendolyn van Draanen

“It’s not like I was trying to get into trouble. And it’s not like it was my fault I was stuck inside the apartment…”

The Curious Incident of the Dog in theNighttime by Mark Haddon

“It was seven minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears’s house. It’s eyes were closed…”

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

“FADE IN: INTERIOR: Early morning in CELL BLOCK D, MANHATTAN DETENTION CENTER. Camera goes slowly down grim, gray corridor…”

The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci

“ I had hoped that a new start away from Steepleton would make my junior year seem like a hundred years ago, rather than just one..."

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

“The sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that,) but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange! Sunset Towers faced east and had no towers…”

Finding Lubchenko by Michael Simmons

“So this is basically a story about a murder. It’s a story about a murder and the fact that the cops said that my dad did it…”

Blood Trail by Nancy Springer

“Crawdad fight!’ Aaron yelled, holding a humongous crayfish in one hand as he lunged through the water at me. He aimed it’s claws towards my face…”

So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld

“Can I take a picture of your shoe? ‘Huh?’ ‘Shoelaces, actually, the way you tied them.’ ‘Oh. Yeah, sure, I guess. Pretty skate, huh?’ I nodded…”

The Golden Rat by Don Wulffson

“Baoliu fought to keep his sanity, to somehow escape the horror. He walked in leg shackles; he paced from one end of the bamboo cage to the other…”

The Boy in the Burning House by Tim Wynne-Jones

“In a windowless room off the kitchen hallway, Father Fisher did his praying. It has once been a pantry but there was no food in it anymore, just food for thought…”

September, 2007