Swiped

Trevor, Nick, and Robyn are in the middle of a mess of mysteries, and their detective skills are being put to the test! Someone is stealing school lunches, and their leading suspect is Clay, a boy who constantly riles up Robyn for being a ‘rich girl’. Meanwhile, the school’s new librarian, Mrs Pringle, is sorting through donated books to stock up the library’s collection and seems to have misplaced a very valuable old hockey book! The three friends search for clues to both these mysteries, hoping to get to the bottom of them before things get worse.

While investigating the missing book, the friends discover that another series of books is also missing—thought to have just been old detective novels, the set is actually very valuable, worth over $5,000! After locating the hockey book (it wasn’t really stolen, after all!) and discovering that the ‘lunch thief’ was, in fact, Clay, who had truly altruistic reasons for his deeds, the misguided thief helps the friends track down the real book thief. They’ve solved all the school’s mysteries once and for all, and secured a more stable position for Mrs Pringle and her library.

This story is an exciting mystery from start to finish, touching on interesting topics such as students being unable to bring proper lunches to school because of difficulties at home, as well as the very real undervaluing of school librarians. The interactions between Trevor, Nick, and Robyn are consistently humorous, and instantly relatable to anyone who has ever interacted with middle school students! A great book for younger readers with an interest in mysteries and detective stories.

Books, reading, libraries, librarians, mysteries, detective work, theft, online auctions, book fairs

Not applicable.