It’s Christmas and I need a book for my niece, 14, who like mysteries. Name something I haven’t heard of. Help!
(Hello, everyone. It’s been a year, hasn’t it.)
Dorothy Gilman, The Tightrope Walker
Call an independent bookseller and ask for a title. Or call the Children’s librarian at the nearest public library and ask them. It’s about the most fun they can have.
Or try:
From a fellow mystery aficionado, albeit one 56 years her senior
The Enola Holmes books. There is a movie version of one of them on Netflix to catch her interest.
I assumed you meant THIS Case Closed until I clicked the link… a really fun, cerebral manga, and anime. It looks like it’s on Netflix! Wow!
Or, if she wants to be a lawyer, John Grisham has a series Theodore Boone, Boy Lawyer.
What am I thinking? Why didn’t I immediately think of PAPER GIRLS?
Well, because it’s a Graphic Novel. And it’s not just mysteries, it’s time travel and sci-fi and a crew of Girl Paperboys in the 80s!
If your niece gets hooked, it’s followed by a few more.
And for a twist, you could get her the electronic version…
Comixology is a great app where a swipe takes you panel-by-panel (on a phone, iPad or PC), even zooming in on dialogue sometimes. And comics are half the price of their dead tree versions (Paper Girls Collection #1 is $5, #2 and later ones less than $10).
…
… Gotta run and order #4 and 5. Guess that’s what I’m getting myself for Christmas.
Thanks, all! The Paper Girl series is new to me. I’m going to read it first and then share my copy with her, lol.
She is going to go nuts for that Case Closed books. She’s a huge Encyclopedia Brown fan and also other puzzle books. This is right up her alley.
I’m going to browse those other books too. She’s reading the Hunger Games right now but I still wince a little at giving her books about high school murders. She has to take a bus to take math classes at the high school and feels kind of weird about it.
Enola Holmes - I’ve been reading Sherlock Holmes since eighth grade and I’ve gotten a little tired of Holmes fanfic. So I would have walked past this - but I got the sample and enjoyed it. I liked the growing sense of dread even in the first chapter. I liked the sensory evocation of life in the West End in the Autumn of Terror. I think this is another one I’ll buy and then loan to her. She’s not burned out on the setting.
Incidentally, I read The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison recently. It’s Holmes fanfic in which Holmes is an unorthodox angel and Watson is … well, you’ve probably guessed that but not THAT. It’s shockingly good. As good as Goblin Emperor. Addison has this amazingly deft hand at world building that it ends up sounding as authentic as the real thing. So good. The blurb for this starts off - “This is not the story you think it is.” And yes - it is exactly what you think it is. But it’s not, and then you end up wondering which was the one you were thinking of.
Oh, also, I bought her A Really Short History of Nearly Everything.