Spy Time: Clued Into Summer Reading!

Mrs. Snyder reads with a skeleton friend.

Psst... psst... you!  Yes, you!  Have you read any good books lately?  At the Book Beach, we're putting on our sleuthing sunglasses and gumshoe flip-flops, hot on the trail of cool summer reading suggestions.  First up, Mrs. Snyder recommends Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead (180 pages, RL 3.8).  The fifth grade math and science teacher declares, this is a great mystery, perfect for summer reading." 

Here's the Story: As seventh-grader Georges adjusts to life in a Brooklyn apartment, he also deals with his father’s efforts to start a new business, his mother’s extra shifts as a nurse, and bullying problems at school.  And then there’s Safer, a twelve-year-old coffee-drinking loner, who enlists his help spying on Mr. X, a mysterious resident of their building….

Ethan L. shares the name of a good book.

The Secret is Out: For readers looking for a good mystery and detective story (mixed with a little magic), Ethan L. recommends The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch (360 pages, RL 5.6).  Cassandra and Max find a notebook and investigate a fire that burned down a missing magician's house and destroyed his mysterious "symphony of smells." 

Take a look at a book trailer created by Ryan C:

A Spy Story!  In Spy School by Stuart Gibbs (290 pages, RL 5.3), twelve-year-old Ben Ripley leaves his public middle school to attend the CIA's Espionage Academy, a top-secret institute operating under the guise of an elite science school.  Here’s a top-secret book trailer, created by Dennis, Garrett, Jack, and Sachin:

More Spying!  In Spy Camp, also by Stuart Gibbs ( 321 pages, RL 5.2), Ben Ripley—now almost thirteen—continues his studies at the CIA’s academy for future intelligence agents.  As he prepares to attend spy summer camp, he receives a dire threat from the evil organization SPYDER.  Garrett, Jack, and Sachin created this book trailer:

Creature Feature:  In Belly Up, another great summer read from Stuart Gibbs (294 pages, RL 5.6), twelve-year-old Teddy and his friend Summer investigate the murder of Henry the Hippopotamus, star attraction at a popular Texas zoo.  Nick B. appreciates the action, the mystery... and the map of the zoo in the book!

Nick B. directs our reading attention to Belly Up.

Teddy M. on the Book Beach.

Caught Reading!  A few weeks ago, Book Beach detectives spied Lafayette student Teddy M. reading The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger (141 pages, RL 4.7).  In this first Origami Yoda book, sixth-grader Tommy and friends try to figure out if classmate Dwight's paper Yoda finger puppet can really predict the future.

Darth Paper Strikes Back diorama by Willy C.

A Fortunate Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (162 pages, RL 6.4).  Eliza N. recommends this first book in the series to friends, sharing, "I love this book because it always has you on your toes!"  After the sudden death of their parents, the three Baudelaire children must depend on each other—and their wits—when the evil Count Olaf, a distant relative who has been appointed their guardian, is determined to use any means necessary to steal their fortune.  

Fortunately, Lilly R. created a book trailer!

Spy Series: In NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society by Michael Buckley (306 pages, RL 5.3), five misfits run a spy network from their school, combining talents and cutting-edge gadgetry to battle evil around the world.  Jacob C. recommends this book to "fourth and fifth graders everywhere... It has secret agents... and a secret base under a school.  What's better than that?"

School Series Makes a Splash: In Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise (138 pages, RL 5.8), the principal asks a fifth grader to write a letter regarding the purchase of a new drinking fountain for their school, resulting in all sorts of entertaining chaos and correspondence. 

Regarding the Fountain booklet designed by LAS reader/artist.
Look for more fountains on the right sidebar!

Take an Imagination Vacation: In The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (215 pages, RL 6.4), Melanie and April turn an abandoned lot into an imaginary Egypt where they spend hours conducting rituals and consulting oracles.  But real dangers lurking outside their make-believe world threaten to end the game. 

Egyptian Mask by Mia G.

Another Imagination Vacation: In The Doll People by Ann M. Martin (256 pages, RL 4.6), a family of porcelain dolls that has lived in the same house for one hundred years is taken aback when a new family of renegade plastic dolls arrive.  Caitlin B. calls the story "fun, mysterious, and unique."

Sketch-a-Scene from The Doll People by Caitlin B.

Mix It Up with a Mystery Classic: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (182 pages, RL 4.7).  In this Newbery-Award winning classic, Claudia Kincaid and her brother run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, plunging into a mystery involving a priceless work of art and the eccentric old woman who sold the piece to the museum. Brendan L. and Jack M. give the book high marks, recommending it to all Lafayette readers.  Kasra S. calls the book "exciting, adventurous, and daring."  And Max S. offers that the book might especially appeal to readers who like art and drawing.

Spy Time is over for now! It looks like we're clued into summer reading... lots of sleuthy stories, imaginative fiction, and series suggestions to keep us on the edge of our beach blanket!