Briarwood

Written by Natalie Hyde

DCB Young Readers

978-1-770868199

246 pp.

Ages 9–12

March 2026 

 

"Sometimes, inspiration and creativity combine in weird and wonderful ways to produce something unexpected." (pg. 99) 

 

It's whispered that Briarwood is a camp of magic, and Callie Garcia is desperate to go there. When a teacher accuses her of cheating on the entrance test and Smedley St. Claire is selected to go instead of her—though she'd scored 98%—Callie believes her dream of following in the tradition of her grandmother's grandfather, Theo Garcia, is lost. GG Theo was a man of ideas who'd left a journal of scientific formulas and inventions' designs and a final message to "Find Archer." But then the director of Briarwood, a Dr. Archer, intervenes and offers Callie a job as a mechanic and she wonders if she has been fated to attend.

 

Briarwood is a camp in the trees, with bunkhouses, walkways, bridges, and all workings powered by steam. So, while her bunkmates Smedley, Shawna, Hank, Tiffany and Dan participate in activities like swimming, alchemy, ropes, and rocketry, Callie is told she'll be reporting to Mr. Davenport. Instead, it's Dr. Archer who takes her to a treehouse lab where she will be fixing things. But there's also a secret lab which she is not allowed to enter, although Dr. Archer tells her that if anything happens to him she is to hide or destroy the special wrench that will allow access to it.

 

When Callie sees inventions that resemble those in her GG Theo's journal, like a hovering bicycle, she knows there must be a connection. But she's too busy trying to figure out the nature of the special metallic water that powers the machines at Briarwood. She is warned against touching the water ever, and not to tell others about what she has seen. With readings of journals at the lab and that of her GG Theo, as well as with her observations, Callie starts putting together a story or two of deception, surveillance, sabotage, and science. And when Dr. Archer goes missing, Callie with a few bunkmates whom she may or may not trust sets out to save Briarwood and its director.

 

Briarwood is magical, but not magical in the supernatural sense. It's wonder comes from the automated nature of its workings, like food delivery at the table, mechanical chameleons that carry messages, and the zip bridges that appear and disappear. Natalie Hyde has created a weird and wonderful place of creativity and engineering, a camp where ingenuity is encouraged, and young people are challenged to see marvels in the mechanisms within. She has shown us clever middle graders who are neither stereotypes of nerdy brainiacs or unrealistic pre-teens with unbelievable skills or strengths. Natalie Hyde makes Briarwood and the mystery to be solved true to life. Moreover, Natalie Hyde makes science, specifically mechanical engineering and chemistry, a fantastical element to the story. The inventions are amazing and yet possible. Camp Briarwood is a marvel that would captivate any young person with imagination and a sense of discovery.

While many young people will be attending summer camps this year, I doubt any camps will be as amazing as the marvel that is Briarwood. Still, I hope that, wherever they go, they find friendship, challenges, perhaps a little mystery, and a whole lot of wonder, just as Callie did at Briarwood.

A Deadly Inheritance

Written by Kelley Armstrong

Tundra Books

978-1-77488-803-2 

424 pp.

Ages 14+

March 2026 

 

Understanding where you fit in the world is rare here. Embracing it is even rarer. (pg. 45)  

For seventeen-year-old Liliana Green, getting by since her mother died recently is everything to her. That and avoiding the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services. She works two part-time jobs, works hard at school to get that full scholarship to college in September, and she sells stuff to make rent. When lawyer Cecilia Robbins appears on her doorstep and announces that Liliana to be the grandchild of the billionaire Chamberlains, Liliana's financial troubles appear to be over. She's whisked away to Westdale, her mother's alma mater and a school that only admits the wealthiest of students. 

 

Of course Liliana has lots of questions, especially why her mother never went to her parents for help, but once she's at Westdale, Lili just has more questions. She may be enjoying the perks of being part of a billionaire family—". . . I'll enjoy what I can, while I can" (pg. 20)—but she still has to navigate meeting new peers who see her as the new Chamberlain girl. She becomes friendly with Maddox Moreno, son of a tech wizard, and Theo Dubois, son of an actor and a director, although the two boys have a cool relationship with each other. And Lili is invited to join Allegra Khan, Polly Reeves, and Isolde Brandt in the Lilith society, one of four societies on campus. 

Soon Lili is being recruited to join the race for that year's Optima, a prestigious competition that would win her a place in an elite networking group outside the school. Even before she has agreed, she's targeted and told to watch herself. Would her competitors really try to eliminate her? But Lili has another mystery to solve when she learns her mother was the Dux (leader) of the Liliths, and ran away with her father before she graduated. Why did they run away? What does it have to do with the death of a scholarship student? And what secrets is Westdale keeping?

 

Like many boarding schools, Westdale is a microcosm of good and bad and ugly. There is a clear class structure and distinct peer groups. There are secrets from the past and mysteries from the present. There are rules to be broken and a system to work in. And there is danger hiding everywhere. Kelley Armstrong takes us into a school of the fabulously wealthy and lets us watch as the students form alliances and friends, tread cautiously around others, and do what they can to safeguard themselves and support those for whom they care. But no one is ever safe. So, as we learn more about the secrets behind Liliana's parents, Rose (Rosalyn) Chamberlain and Will Green, and several suspicious deaths, including that of Maddox's sister and that of a friend of Rosalyn's, Kelley Armstrong twists and turns the reader into believing no one is to be trusted. She gives us all the clues but she cleverly tangles us into seeing connections where there are none and ignoring key players because they seem inconsequential. Still, even if you pay attention, Kelley Armstrong will surprise you, both with her ending and the solution to the mystery. And there's nothing better than the unraveling and intertwining of plot threads leading to a refreshing and a gratifying denouement, which is what you always get with Kelley Armstrong's suspenseful reads.

Bark Twice for Murder (Orca Currents)

Written by John Lekich

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-4148-2

120 pp.

Ages 9-12

RL 3.0

August 2025 

 

There may be a murder and some nefarious actions in John Lekich's latest hi-lo novel but, rest assured, regardless of the title, no dogs are injured, abused, or killed in Bark Twice for Murder. And though it may not be important to many readers, for this reader, it's critical. Instead, Bark Twice for Murder has food, humour, a mystery to solve, and a talking dog. See? Lots to love and nothing to fear.

 

Fourteen-year-old Harry lives with his grandmother Elinor since his parents were killed in a plane crash a few years earlier. His dad was a chef with a food truck named "Pasta Express," and his mom loved to bake. No surprise that Harry finds comfort—maybe a bit too much comfort, says his therapist—in cooking for others. Fortunately, he has lots of people to talk to after Elinor, who took over the food truck business and expanded it, has set up one truck outside of Vancouver's New Day Shelter to provide breakfasts and lunches for the unhoused. A lonely Harry likes getting to know the people there and becomes friendly with Stanley and his dog Waffles. The duo are noteworthy in several respects. First, Stanley was once a chef and begins to teach Harry how to cook and improve service. Second, he has conversations with Waffles who is a dog that hates being a dog. And when Rudy "the Worm" Carelli, a regular at their small takeout restaurant, tells Harry that Stanley has stolen a portrait from Rudy's father, and that Stanley is in danger, Harry gets involved.

 

But when Stanley is murdered, and Harry hears a voice in his head saying, "Somebody murdered my best friend" (p. 29), Harry is compelled to partner with Waffles to find Stanley's murderer and solve the mystery of the missing portrait of Rudy's grandmother.

John Lekich who first provided this reader with great laughs and characters in The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls (Orca, 2012) does so again in Bark Twice for Murder. His young protagonists always seem to get mixed up in some criminal activity but it's generally due to circumstances beyond their control and with them really trying to do good. And with some supernatural elements involving Waffles, both in his origin story and his ability to communicate with Stanley and then Harry, John Lekich surprises readers as well as makes them laugh. Add in characters named Jimmy the Fork, Carmine "the Cobra" Carelli, Shaky Sam, Rudy "the Worm" and, of course, Waffles the dog, and you've got a cast of quirky or unnerving personalities that take Harry out of his comfort zone and make him feel like he belongs.  

 

Don't be surprised if you can't figure out the mystery of the missing portrait or who murdered Stanley. John Lekich doesn't make it an easy solve, but he does let Harry solve it. Bark Twice for Murder may be a hi-lo story written at a third grade reading level, but John Lekich ensures that the story is intricate enough for older middle-grade readers to become invested in Harry's story and in solving the mystery. They might even get wrapped up in learning to cook risotto, lasagna, or minestrone. That's because John Lekich has seasoned this book with so much richness of story that they'll be barking—with laughter—for another. 

Death by Whoopee Cushion

Written by Vicki Grant

Tundra Books

978-1-77488-468-3

256 pp.

Ages 10–14

July 2025 

 

 Having parents who own a joke shop can be torture. (p. 3)

 

For twelve-year-old Manya, who hates the limelight, her parents' joke shop, Pranks-A-Million, is embarrassing. But Ronnie and Stephanie Brown love to laugh and make others laugh. Not only do they sell pranks that explode, smell, stain, and startle, they create new "artisanal pranks" like Barf-In-A-Bag, edible scabs, and the Gravy Blaster, a whoopee cushion filled with sulfur-scented gravy, in their backroom Funcubator lab. Manya likes serious science–she won last year's science fair–and is eager to take an after-school program called "Serious Science for Serious Kids" that is offered at the Museum of Natural History. Along with her best friend and neighbour, Isaac, the only other participants who attend Dr. Michael's course are Jack, another science kid from their school, and Brandon, a kid who wanted to do kickboxing but was forced to attend this instead. Together they learn about acids and bases and do fun experiments.

 

But when things that aren't a laughing matter happen, Manya is concerned, though her parents with their good-natured humour are not. First, they are questioned by police about a trick cigar that caused first-degree burns. Then, more seriously, when her parents are setting up for a presentation at Manya's school, the new custodian is killed by an explosion when handling their materials. Manya's parents are arrested, and Manya and their parrot Toots—who makes farting noises—go to stay with Isaac and his mother Delia next door. Now it's up to Manya and Isaac to put their STEM skills to work and determine who sabotaged her parents' Gravy Blaster that killed a man.

 

Vicki Grant is always known for the humour in her books (e.g., Hold the Pickles,  36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You, Short for Chameleon) but her stories are always more than cheap laughs. Her plots often look into deeper issues of family relationships or bullying, even loneliness or shame. Vicki Grant reminds us that even when there is much to laugh about, there are serious issues often lightened with humour. Manya may be a girl who has inherited a love of science and experimenting from her parents, but she is quite self-conscious and embarrassed by the silliness, and smells and noises, of the pranks her parents love. But when her parents are arrested, she realizes how much she loves them and how much the joke shop is a part of her. It's this realization, along with the application of some science, that helps her solve the mystery of the exploding Gravy Blaster and connect with those who care about her.

 

I don't want to give away too much—the mystery of the Whoopee Cushion Murder must be solved—but suffice it to say that the laughs will be had courtesy of a fart-noisemaker of a parrot, a poopy baby called Poppy, a plethora of pranks, and a pair of mischief-makers who drive around in a yellow Beetle adorned with googly eyes and a clown nose. But with a little science, a whole lot of fun, and much familial affection, the mystery is solved, along with a few welcome surprises, and only the culprit is left with egg on their face, figuratively of course.

Mystery at the Biltmore #2: The Classified Catnapping

Written by Colleen Nelson

Illustrated by Peggy Collins

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-336-0

136 pp.

Ages 7-10

April 2025 

 

Things are certainly exciting at the Biltmore, the residence that Elodie LaRue lives at on the Upper West Side in New York City. Who knew that after her first case, The Vanderhoff Heist, that there would be another mystery to solve at the Biltmore during the same summer? And her next would begin with a murder! (Just kidding. It's just a movie.)

 

The courtyard of the Biltmore has become a movie set for a film that features the most famous feline resident of the building. Bijou, the very wealthy heir to the fortune of fashion designer Lucien Saint Martin, lives in a swanky apartment with her nanny, Paula Benson, who has had to leave her family, notably her 10-year-old daughter Tiya, in Queens. While visiting her mom, Tiya is tasked with getting a driver and car to pick up Bijou at her pet grooming salon while Paula is busy prepping for Bijou's big eighth-birthday bash. But Tiya arrives late at Spaw and learns that Bijou has already been picked up. So, the child asks Elodie and her sidekick Oscar, an aspiring stuntman and magician, to find Bijou before the party that night.

From Mystery at the Biltmore: The Classified Catnapping, written by Colleen Nelson, illustrated by Peggy Collins

The Biltmore has no shortage of suspects, from the regular residents like Mrs. Fineman and her noisy Pomeranian Lawrence, and Bianca Winthrop Parker Saint March, the niece of Bijou's cat daddy, to Freddy the doorman, and those associated with the movie, like the animal trainer, Bijou's agent, Bijou's biographer, and even stuntman Lance Beauregard. But Elodie and Oscar have to follow the clues, ask the right questions, and figure out the motive before they can catch the wrongdoer, hopefully before Paula finds out.

 

Colleen Nelson keeps young readers guessing with each chapter focused on another character. She puts out a number of red herrings–including of the fishy variety–but always helps the reader see the logic in Elodie and Oscar's thinking, never surprising them with unfair plot elements. Colleen Nelson actually makes the mystery solvable as the story progresses, but you have to pay attention. Elodie does, and she is always able to figure out who did the crime.

From Mystery at the Biltmore: The Classified Catnapping, written by Colleen Nelson, illustrated by Peggy Collins

The mystery is paramount and novel, and perfect for an early middle-grade reader. Mysteries can become convoluted and difficult to dissect but Colleen Nelson actually keeps the plot fairly linear, with no curve balls or weird surprises, thereby allowing the reader to follow with Elodie and Oscar, and Carnegie, her West Highland Terrier, as they unearth what everyone is and was up to. Then add some charming spot art from Peggy Collins, some word play like puns–who doesn't like Spaw as the name of a pet grooming salon?–an assortment of crazy stunts and magic tricks courtesy of Oscar, and The Classified Catnapping becomes an entertaining middle-grade cozy that will have young readers eager for another visit to the Biltmore.

 

🏢 🏢 🏢 🏢 🏢

 

Mystery at the Biltmore #1: The Vanderhoff Heist (2024)

Mystery at the Biltmore #2: The Classified Catnapping (April, 2025)

Mystery at the Biltmore: The Vanderhoff Heist

Written by Colleen Nelson

Illustrated by Peggy Collins

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-327-8

136 pp.

Ages 7-10

2024

 

Multi-family residences like hotels, resorts and apartment buildings are fabulous settings for elaborate mysteries, in which a host of suspects can be found within the residents, and Colleen Nelson has found a spectacular setting in her fictional historical residence, the Biltmore, on New York City's Upper West Side. It's loaded with character and characters that make the story rich in personality, both straightforward and intricate in its plotting, and playful in its delivery.

 

It's summer and Elodie LaRue has once again been abandoned to her nanny Miss Rosa by her globe-trotting art crime investigator parents. Determined to make something interesting out of her summer, Elodie posts notices that she is a detective available for hire. The very next day, she is contacted by Agnes, the housekeeper for the world-famous landscape architect Mrs. Vanderhoff whose sapphire earrings have disappeared from a velvet tray in her room. As Agnes is being blamed, the housekeeper encourages Mrs. Vanderhoff to hire Elodie and find the real culprit. 

From Mystery at the Biltmore: The Vanderhoff Heist, written by Colleen Nelson, illustrated by Peggy Collins

With the help of Carnegie, her West Highland Terrier, and a new resident and aspiring stunt person Oscar Delgado, Elodie sets out to solve the mystery of Mrs. Vanderhoff's missing jewels. Along the way, readers meet a menagerie of extraordinary people at the Biltmore, both employees and residents and visitors, as well as an assortment of furry and feathered friends. With so many potential suspects, Elodie and Oscar must put their little grey cells to work and sift through the clues to find the thief.

From Mystery at the Biltmore: The Vanderhoff Heist, written by Colleen Nelson, illustrated by Peggy Collins

I've often declared how challenging it is to write for early and early middle-grade readers. Getting the right mix of appropriate vocabulary and plot to meet their needs and interests without talking down to or above them is difficult. However, if Colleen Nelson has shown us anything, it's that she can write it all. She's written picture books, YA, non-fiction, and middle-grade novels. She's been nominated for countless awards, including the Governor General's Award, and won several readers' choice awards such as the Silver Birch award of the Forest of Reading and the Shining Willow award of the Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Awards. Her skill in getting the voice of her characters right, whether kindergarteners (Teaching Mrs. Muddle), middle graders (e.g., The Undercover Book List) or teens struggling with violence, addictions and bullying (e.g., Finding Hope, The Fall, Blood Brothers) or even a dog (e.g., Harvey Comes Home) allows her to create a plethora of worlds in which kids and teens face challenges, some more troubling than others, and find something inside that allows them to prevail. Here, Colleen Nelson has given readers a child whose world may be one of comfort, living at the Biltmore, having a nanny, loving her dog, and feeling secure enough to explore solving mysteries in safety but she also lets us see Elodie as a child who misses her parents and wants to have friends and not waste her summer doing nothing. Fortunately, Elodie's a go-getter and solving a mystery or two is what she's interested in doing. And she's good at it. She knows how to ask questions, how to look at the evidence, even outside-of-the box, and how to follow through. She's going to be an amazing detective. (Hopefully her parents will notice too.)

 

The plot, which feels very much like Only Murders in the Building without the murders, is both intricate and straightforward, perfect for the audience. But adding to Colleen Nelson's story is the darling spot art of Peggy Collins, the author-illustrator of the award-winning Harley the Hero. The art adds little bursts of colour to the book and helps readers envision the Biltmore and all its characters, improving readability and comprehension.

 

The second book in the Mystery at the Biltmore series releases in April (The Classified Catnapping) and I'll be reviewing it next so you can see where the series is going. Colleen Nelson has confidently transitioned Elodie from a potentially bored child to an emergent detective who is willing to help those in her building get the answers they need to their pressing mysteries. With Carnegie, Oscar, Miss Rosa and the others at the Biltmore, she'll be busy and gratified that the LaRue Detective Agency will have new mysteries to solve.

 

🏢 🏢 🏢 🏢 🏢

 

Mystery at the Biltmore #1: The Vanderhoff Heist (2024)

Mystery at the Biltmore #2: The Classified Catnapping (April, 2025)
 

Izzy Wong's Nose for News

Written by Marty Chan

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-3937-3

208 pp.

Ages 8-12

September 2024

 

Twelve-year-old Izzy Wong may have a nose for news, but she has to make sure she's not putting her nose where it doesn't belong or sniffing out a story that isn't there. She may aspire to be the next Sarah Koenig and make her journalist/news-anchor mom proud of her, but Izzy Wong still has a lot of learning to do. After all, she is only in Grade 6.

 

Izzy may not be popular, but she loves reporting news from the school and interviewing her classmates about tests and other school happenings for her podcast. They might not like being questioned but Izzy doesn't let that deter her. But when she learns that the third-floor girls' bathroom flooded over the weekend and has caused much damage to classrooms and the library, Izzy thinks she's got a fabulous podcast story in solving the mystery of how it happened. 

But Izzy is still a novice at interviewing and pursuing a story. She gets useful advice from her mom how to keep herself from starting rumours and making herself part of the story, but she doesn't always follow the advice or heed the warnings of her teachers or principal. Instead, she begins speculating that Doyle McTaggert, a sixth-grade prankster, may have been behind stuffing paper towels in the toilets. With that leading her, Izzy begins seeing things that make Doyle look guilty and, without intending to do so, she starts gossip about her classmates. How is she going to get to the bottom of this mystery without making everyone hate her or clouding her investigation with rumours?

While a flooding in a school bathroom may not be the mystery of the century, it is a big deal in an elementary school where bathrooms are places of chatter and refuge. And when classrooms and staff are impacted–from the massive clean-up and ruined school equipment and furniture–it is a very big deal and mystery that the authorities want solved, although perhaps not how Izzy goes about it. But author Marty Chan makes Izzy a believable character who is determined to do something, although her passion is not always embedded in common sense or the sound judgement of her elders. She's eager but impetuous and she takes missteps that she sometimes should walk back but doesn't. In other words, she's a kid who is learning from her mistakes and by doing her best, even if it isn't always right. Fortunately, Marty Chan lets Izzy grow into her journalistic skills and herself, learning some sensitivity from her missteps and some wisdom from her peers and elders about the consequences of her actions. At least she learns. And she solves a mystery that wouldn't have been uncovered without her diligence in pursuing a story. Izzy may have been distracted by the whiff of stories of romance and revenge but, in the end, she got to the heart of the matter and matured as an investigative reporter.

An Unbalanced Force

Written by Valerie Sherrard

DCB 

978-1-77086-764-2

200 pp.

Ages 12+

November 2024

 

When your family gives you everything, from a comfortable lifestyle and money to support and love, it's not unusual to feel beholding to them, even if they don't make you feel like it's a transactional relationship. (Sadly, there are families that do this.) But imagine if you owe your life to a dad who saved you when you'd snuck into an abandoned house and were bleeding out from an injury? Would you feel indebted forever? Or would there be a point where doing the right thing would feel like the wrong thing?

Seventeen-year-old Ethan Granger has a pretty nice life. He and his parents live in a gated community in Ottawa near enough to the Gatineau that he can take his trail bike there regularly. He just got a new bike, and his parents are talking about taking him to do the Inca Trail in Peru. His dad who became rich with his company, The Granger Group, is generous with his cash, especially whenever he goes on a business trip, which is frequently. Part of Ethan's circle include his best friend, Owen, who enjoys getting away from his alcoholic mother by hanging at Ethan's, and Ethan's girlfriend Nora with whom he often has an on-again-off-again relationship.

When he sees his dad in a parking lot near a strip mall in town when he's supposed to be on a trip, Ethan has questions, even more so when he texts his dad and his dad claims he's just getting off his flight. Recalling an earlier incident in which Mom claims to have seen someone driving Dad's car when he was out of town, Ethan decides to hire a private investigator to check things out. Ethan knows his dad is a smooth talker and a great storyteller but is he really a liar? Ms. Abboud, the investigator, reminds Ethan that, "It's important to realize that whatever you find out, it's going to be something you'll carry for the rest of your days." (p. 36)

 

Working with Ms. Abboud and his friends, Ethan discovers where Dad is spending time during his supposed business trips, and what Ethan learns puts him in an uncomfortable position. Does he stand by his father, a man who'd saved his life, or does he go to the police? Does he jeopardize all he and his family have or consider the needs of others?

Being a teen is often a balancing act of following the rules of the adults in your life–parents, teachers, coaches, guardians–and your own inclinations, whether for interests, friends, ambitions or just independence. And even though Ethan is fortunate that he comes from a wealthy family in which his wants are rarely limited, Valerie Sherrard gives us a typical teen who looks for support in his peer group, and who wants to have a good relationship with his family and girlfriend. He's also honest with himself, seeing things he doesn't like, whether in the way Nora treats him, in his father's lies, or in his own responses to disappointment and confusion. He's a teen and he's an insightful one.

Valerie Sherrard, who was recently named the 2024 Literary Arts Laureate of the New Brunswick Lieutenant Governor’s Award for High Achievement in the Arts, is an accomplished writer of all genres, from picture books and middle grade novels to YA and non-fiction. (See a few of my reviews of some of her books, including A Bend in the Breeze, Counting Back from Nine, Standing on Neptune, Driftwood, Random Acts, and Rain Shadow, to see the range of her writing.) While she can write everything from funny to angsty, novels in free verse to information texts, I think Valerie Sherrard excels at realistic YA in which young people are challenged by ordinary feelings in perhaps uncommon circumstances. In An Unbalanced Force, Ethan is challenged with doing what's right which may be at odds with what his family might want. His choice could also impact others around him. Perhaps the circumstances are exceptional but his reactions, from confusion to disappointment and even rage, are all legit, as are the means by which he decides upon his response.

With the overload of decisions which young people must make before reaching adulthood, with respect to their careers, their relationships, and even the risks they take, it's reassuring to know that, even when given circumstances beyond their control, like Owen's alcoholic mother and Ethan's deceitful father, they can see different perspectives and make good choices for themselves. Best of all, they can remain open to possibilities and stay confident in their choices, regardless of what others may toss at them.

If We Tell You

Written by Nicola Dahlin

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-1147-5

400 pp.

Ages 12-15

October 2024

 

A truth relies on what came before it. (p. 32)

 

There's something about the cover that tells you that If We Tell You is going to be a thriller. And if that doesn't give it away it then the first pages in which fifteen-year-old twin brothers Lewis and Cameron Larsen are running from a "serious event" at their home outside of Calgary and heading to the airport and then to Scotland definitely would. The "serious event"? It was a man and a woman who crashed their BBQ and held guns on the boys before Mom and Dad expertly put the strangers down with a knife and a gun. Mom and Dad have taken off and left the boys with a backpack of passports with new names and a load of money. Now the twins are heading to find Maggs, a woman who runs a guest house in Edinburgh, determined to find their parents again and figure out why this is all happening.

Because they had been told by their mother to stay together but avoid being seen together–they are identical twins–the boys experience things differently, not the least of which is because the two are not identical in dispositions. Cameron is the more impetuous boy but optimistic and more street savvy of the two, while Lewis is the smarter one and the one who does not believe that his parents have done anything wrong to get them to this state.

Though they hope getting to Maggs will answer all their questions, Lewis and Cameron just get more perturbed by what they learn and are left with more questions including finding out who their parents really are. The parents they knew as Jennifer Reid and David Larsen are known by different names. They're suspected of being terrorists and thieves and are still wanted by the police. It's going to take a whole host of characters, including family they never knew existed and an assortment of guests and neighbours at Maggs's, to keep the boys safe and help them figure out whether all their lives are based on lies.

 

Told in the alternating voices of Lewis and Cameron, If We Tell You is an action thriller that offers different perspectives on the same circumstances. They are twin teens who witness a terrifying situation and are separated from the only family they know, and they see their circumstances differently. Of course, they are both devastated but Lewis adheres strictly to what his parents told him to always do and not to trust anyone and is convinced that their parents are not the criminals they are assumed to be. Cameron jumps in and follows his heart, doing what he thinks is right and hoping that it will help them find their parents and the truth. As the two boys grapple with their circumstances, including posing as one boy Will, their trust of each other and others becomes limited. But Calgary author Nicola Dahlin brings the boys full circle, from only seeing their own perspectives to appreciating those of the other. In fact, it is only because of those differences that the two are able to face a myriad of challenges, including kidnapping, assaults, and romance, and come out the other side.

This is Nicola Dahlin's debut novel and, because of her own background, living in Calgary and growing up in Scotland, there is an authenticity of voice and place. Her placement of the bulk of the story in Scotland, a place of rich history, of the Edinburgh Festival, and more, adds a unique dimension, in language and landscape. Moreover, she brings in all sorts of characters, from teens to tourists, police and historians, some friend, some foe, such that it's difficult for the boys, and readers, to tell the difference. If We Tell You is as rich in storytelling as it is in people and place.

The title may be If We Tell You but there's not a whole lot of telling that is happening that is the complete truth, though for the boys and the readers, figuring it out when they're on the run and in a different country makes for a good story. And a good story it is with action and history, mysteries and even a little romance. In the end, it's a whodunit or maybe even a what-did-they-do story, and its ending promises more to come.

 

Mystery at the Biltmore: Book launch (Winnipeg, MB)

Colleen Nelson 

author of picture books, middle grade, non-fiction and YA

 

 

is launching her newest book

 

Mystery at the Biltmore

Written by Colleen Nelson

with illustrations by Peggy Collins

Pajama Press

978-1-772783278

104 pp.

Ages 7-10

October 8, 2024 

on

Sunday, October 27, 2024
 

3:00pm - 4:00 PM

 

at

Whodunit New And Used Mystery Bookstore

163 Lilac St.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

 

 

An early middle grade novel, with illustrations, Mystery at the Biltmore is the first in a new series by Colleen Nelson (Book 2, The Classified Catnapping, releases in April 2025), and is described as "Only Murders in the Building meets Harriet the Spy." (Publisher's page at https://pajamapress.ca/book/mystery-at-the-biltmore-2/)

Here's a bit more about the book to really pique a mystery lover's interest:

The Biltmore in New York City is full of mysteries, and Elodie LaRue, a novice detective, plans to piece together the clues and solve the case of the missing jewels.

Left behind by her globe-trotting detective parents once again, Elodie decides to prove she’s worthy of joining them on a case by setting up her own detective agency at her renowned Upper West Side home, The Biltmore.

When a pair of sapphire earrings mysteriously disappear from Mrs. Vanderhoff’s apartment, Elodie is asked to solve the case. Elodie begins her investigation the way any good detective would, looking for clues and potential suspects. With twists, turns, and suspects galore, will Elodie be able to prove she has what it takes to solve a crime? Or will the LaRue Detective Agency fail on its first case? As Elodie, her dog Carnegie, and new friend Oscar (a self-proclaimed parkour master) delve deeper into the mystery, they encounter a quirky cast of characters, an array of clues, and a little bit of fun.

(From Pajama Press book page at
https://pajamapress.ca/book/mystery-at-the-biltmore-2/)

 

If you're fortunate enough to live in the area of Winnipeg, this would be a fabulous opportunity to grab a new mystery book, get it signed by the author, and start a new series that is sure to please all young mystery lovers.

Mystery at the Biltmore (October 2024)

The Classified Catnapping (April 2025)

The Museum of Very Bad Smells: A Dare to Scratch 'n' Sniff Mystery

Written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

Katherine Tegen Books

978-0-063271449

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

July, 2024

 

Though we might all pooh-pooh a museum of very bad smells, I'll bet the premise will delight young readers who enjoy a frisson of irreverence in their stories. And if irreverence comes in the form of farts and toilet humour, all the better.

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

Yes, there is a Museum of Very Bad Smells, and it has suffered a great loss: the World Famous Rotten Egg has been stolen! The hamster gallery attendant or perhaps docent, has a mystery to solve and readers are invited to help. Throughout the book, there are spots where readers are invited to scratch and sniff. But what will the clues tell us? And who are the suspects?

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

The possible suspects include a busy dung beetle curator named Beetle; TJ, a mouse who works in the gift shop; Pickles, the wet dog; and Herman, a hermit crab and the docent's boss. Using his very fine nose for smells, the kepi-wearing hamster begins to follow the clues, and they are some very stinky ones, according to his telling comments. (I'm reviewing this book from an epub so cannot attest to the malodorous whiff that might arise from scratching the spot clues.) And though the hamster detective initially eliminates all the suspects, his sense of scents leads him to each of his museum colleagues. 

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

But in a Museum of Very Bad Smells there is a plethora of stinky exhibits, from onions and Pickles the farting dog, to dirty socks and wet sneakers, and loads to throw our intrepid detective and his assistants, the readers, off the scent. (Or is it onto the scent?) Fortunately, his very capable sniffer finds the culprit and a new exhibit for the Museum.

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

I recently lauded Monica Arnaldo for her picture book Mr. S, a perfect first-day-of-school book. Just as she got into the heads of very young children heading to school for the first time and not knowing what to expect, including the possibility that a sandwich might be their teacher, Monica Arnaldo knows that kids will love, love, love The Museum of Very Bad Smells and laugh, laugh, laugh as they scratch and sniff and solve the mystery of the missing rotten egg. Her story is hysterical and, while I'm thankful I didn't need to scratch and smell anything, I know children will find it a hoot to do just that. (Be prepared: there's no lavender or bubble gum smells here.) 

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

Her art is as playful as the text. This museum is a blend of bold and busy, colour and shape. Monica Arnaldo makes us look at and into each exhibit, follow the detective's progress, and sniff for clues, always helping readers find those sniffing spots with a tiny pointing hand. And her characters have so much individuality. From the sullen hermit crab carrying his herring tin around–for mystery lovers, you'll notice it's a red herring tin–and the defensive TJ and guilty-looking Pickles, so big and so loved and so much a dog, Monica Arnaldo makes us see a motley group of potential suspects and become part of her story of mystery.

 

The Museum of Very Bad Smells has everything a kid would want in a picture book: laughs, stinks, animals, illustrations with lots of details, colour, and a puzzle to solve. They might not be able to find the missing rotten egg on their own, but they'll be pleased to be part of the investigation. It might even encourage them to visit a real museum, though I think they'll be hard-pressed to locate one dedicated to offensive odours.

Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities

Written by Casey Lyall

Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-323987-6

288 pp.

Ages 8–13

May 2024

Bringing people back to life is an unusual service for a funeral home, but it is one my family did with great pride. (p. 1)

Twelve-year-old Kimmy Jones knows it's a privilege to have the Jones's gift of Waking those newly departed who have some unfinished business and to grant them one last wish. Her father, Nathan, now passed, had it and so does Kimmy's Grandma Bev on her father's side. In fact, Grandma Bev is training Kimmy now that the child has turned 12. Kimmy's mom Julia and her stepdad Alex know what Grandma Bev and Kimmy can do and allow them to perform Wakings at their Jones Family Funeral Home though they are cautious as Kimmy is still a trainee and everyone insists she honour the boundaries that have been placed on their gift. And though Kimmy is able to Wake, everything changes when Grandma Bev dies. 

 

When Kimmy tries to Wake Grandma Bev, knowing she had secrets still to share with Kimmy, including the recipe for her awesome cookies, all she gets is a nosebleed.

How could she let her spark move on and pretend she had no unfinished business?

She had me. (p. 57)

Worse yet, months afterwards, Kimmy is still having no success in Waking, though the power she used to feel in her chest when she was trying to Wake someone has become a "tug, tug, tug" that never leads to anything. 

When a boy around her age is found dead in the park, Kimmy is convinced that here is a soul who definitely has unfinished business i.e., revealing who murdered him. She breaks into the hospital morgue and, pushing harder than she ever has, Wakes Devon who doesn't know what happened to him. Surprisingly, Devon does not return to dead when Kimmy breaks the connection. Now Kimmy has a bigger problem: she's got a kid who is supposed to be dead but isn't and who can't go home, and she needs to figure out why he's still Awake and how did he die. 

With much humour and sharp investigative skills, Kimmy and Devon and a motley group of family and newly dead work to determine what is going on with the dead in their town of Basbridge, including Grandma Bev, and put things to right.

 

Casey Lyall, whose most recent book Gnome is Where Your Heart Is was nominated for a Silver Birch Fiction award, knows how to blend all the right elements for a comedic supernatural mystery, while making sure that readers understand how overwhelming death and grief can be. Still there is a message about life being for the living, except sometimes if you've been dead (!). Young readers on the Silver Birch Forest Kid Committee put this new book on their summer reading list of recommended Canadian titles for middle grade readers and they know great books when they read them. Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities is a fabulous read. It has laughter and magic, mystery and life lessons about death and grief and living. 

Devon stared at the sign. "You live in a funeral home?'

"Yup."

His eyebrows crawled up his forehead. "And you bring dead people back to life?"

"I told you!" I flung a hand in the air. "It's not usually permanent!"

"Terrible business model," he muttered. (p. 108)

For many young readers, Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities will be a can't-put-it-down read, especially once they get invested in the characters, most notably Kimmy and Devon. They'll want to know if Devon becomes a zombie, gets to go home or dies again. They'll want to know why Kimmy can't find Grandma Bev's spark to Wake her for her last few minutes or whether the gift of Waking has died for the Jones family. There is a mystery to solve–remember Devon was murdered–and some family secrets and legacy to sort out. Did I mention there was magic at hand too?

The story in Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities is rich, like Grandma Bev's complex cookie recipe that Kimmy just can't replicate. She tries but it's just so sophisticated that you can't always figure out why and how it works so well. That's what Casey Lyall's writing is like. I don't know how she does it, but Casey Lyall has always done mysteries well (see her Howard Wallace, P. I. series) but what brings everything to life–pun intended–is the way she weaves humour and compassion into her stories. Her books, like Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities, are complete packages that have everything to entertain, to inspire the imagination, and to subtly support middle graders who might be dealing with their own family issues, including grief. Casey Lyall may not purport to provide answers but it's more than enough that she can delight us with her clever plotting, her vibrant characters, and her ability to astonish with the supernatural that is still wholly believable.

Zevi Takes the Spotlight (Orca Currents)

Written by Carol Matas

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-459838826

128 pp.

Ages 9–12

RL 2.7

April 2024

 

Some gift! Unlike other gifts, this one is not returnable. (p. 2)

Zevi's gift? He's psychic. Sometimes he can see into the future, or dream about something that is going happen, hear someone's thoughts, or even talk to the dead. When he dreams of the location of a missing 5-year-old girl, he helps the police find the child unharmed. But, for a Grade 7 boy who wants to be an actor, he doesn't appreciate the celebrity, both good and bad, that comes with this good deed.

Now Zevi's family is getting dragged into the filming of a movie starring Robert Lemon when their glass-and-steel home is selected as a location for the futuristic movie. Problem is that Zevi keeps sensing a dark cloud associated with the star and the boy is worried that Mr. Lemon is in danger. When repeated accidents occur on set, i.e., at their house, Zevi, his best friend Nir, and Zevi's family use their proximity to the movie to do some sleuthing to discover who might want to hurt Robert Lemon.

 

Zevi Takes the Spotlight is another fast-moving hi-lo book in the Orca Currents series, which are high-interest books written at a lower vocabulary and reading level, here at 2.7. (RL 2.7 is associated with readers in the seventh month of Grade 2.) Carol Matas, a prolific writer of everything from picture books to historical fiction, paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi, capably writes a compelling mystery for middle-grade readers at a less challenging level. She weaves a story of real characters, kids who want to try new things or don't, who want to be famous or don't, and who want to connect with others. And they've got a mystery to solve. They may have a few tricks to help them out, like Zevi's psychic ability, but that "gift" is both beneficial and an obstacle, as Zevi learns. 

 

Zevi may want to be an actor when he is older but he's learning early what fame can mean when he gets a taste of it. Still, it doesn't stop him from doing good for others or learning how to deal with it. His brush with celebrity may put him in the spotlight but he's now seeing beyond that attention to a path that will allow him to be both who he is and who he wants to be.

Spotting Dottie (Orca Currents)

Written by Gail Anderson-Dargatz

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-3483-5

112 pp.

Ages 9-12

R: 2.5

April 2024 

There's Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. There's also Chessie, the Chesapeake Bay creature,  and Champ, the lake monster of Lake Champlain. But in Gail Anderson-Dargatz's latest hi-lo novel for Orca Currents, we have Dottie, a cryptid that lives in the deepest part of Dorothy Lake. Or does she?

Charlotte believes wholeheartedly in Dottie, just as her grandmother Donna always has. Ever since Donna saw the lake monster when she was 14, as Charlotte is now, she has been interested in Dottie, collecting memorabilia and photos, interviewing prospective witnesses, and patiently watching through her spotting scope and binocs. This has earned her the moniker of Dottie Donna, and though her grandmother doesn't mind, it really bothers Charlotte's mom Anna who is not a believer in the creature.  When Anna gives Charlotte a drone with a camera for her birthday, Charlotte (a.k.a. Lottie) and Grandma and Charlotte's friend Scott witness something large, with humps rolling out the water. Convinced they have footage of Dottie, Charlotte shares it with the Dorothy Lake News website. 

That posting starts everything, from media attention, local ridicule–Charlotte becomes known as Dottie Lottie–self-doubt, and an undesirable draw of tourists and cryptid hunters to the lake. All Charlotte had wanted was to get her mother to believe Grandma in her assertion that Dottie existed. Instead, she has brought chaos and perhaps danger to her friends and family and perhaps, worse of all, to Dottie.

 

There is a natural interest in the unknown, attempting to understand the unexplainable, to prove that which has not been proven. It's wondering about things we don't know and defending those whose beliefs may be different than our own. Charlotte is a sweet granddaughter who really just wants to help her mother and grandmother get along better. The two strong women in her life are pulling Charlotte to different perspectives and Charlotte is convinced that if she can find evidence of Lottie and prove it to her mother, then everything will be alright. Unfortunately, beliefs can be entrenched and making someone believe something other than what they've always held true is a tall order. It doesn't help when there are those who ridicule you for those beliefs. But Gail Anderson-Dargatz doesn't force Charlotte or Anna or even Donna to believe something they don't. She lets them be a family who can love and accept differences and bend as needed. Spotting Dottie may lead young readers to investigate the real story of BC's cryptid–Ogopogo in Lake Okanagan–but that mystery is one that will remain while families come together, and sometimes fall apart. And Gail Anderson-Dargatz will let us watch them and learn.

Whether Nessie or Chessie or Champ are logs, mega eels or cryptids, it doesn't matter to Dottie's story. Dottie is as real as she needs to be for all the families involved. And we're going to keep her secrets safe.