The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (The Brixton Brothers) by Mac Barnett

Have you ever read The Hardy Boys? Or should I say, have you ever heard of the Hardy Boys? The 12 year old sleuth in this story reminds me of the boy detectives from way back. But Steve is way funnier. As you can see from the cover these two chums are in a little bit of trouble. How can that be funny? Well, Steve keeps referring to his Bailey Brothers' Detective Handbook to figure out how to get out of trouble. Such as: Tie your sheets together to make a rope when one needs to exit the second floor bedroom. A section on Hiding Places helped Steve out when he was in his first sticky situation at the Public Library. Mac Barnett wrote a very entertaining mystery and I am glad to know that there are more Brixton Brothers books. Maud Hart Lovelace Nominee 2012-13.

Dying to Meet You by Kate and Sarah Klise

Short fun book, very punny! I love the names especially Olive C. Spence. Poor Seymour Hope is all alone in this mansion except for his friend Olive, but she is a ghost. Seymour doesn't care, he likes it there and doesn't care that his parents are in Europe for the summer. The house gets rented by a grumpy writer who wants peace and quiet so he can write his next ghost book. Ha! You are thinking, a perfect spot for Ignatius Grumply. But Mr. I.B. Grumply doesn't think so, a child (he doesn't like children), and a ghost — a very sassy ghost too, and a cat! Will he ever get his book written? Will the ghost ever quit bothering him? Author Kate Klise writes this Maud Hart Lovelace Nominee in her usual fashion with letters, newspaper articles and very nice drawings by Seymour.

Extra Credit by Andrew Clements

What if you couldn't move on to seventh grade because of your poor grades? Would you do Extra Credit? Abby Carson decides she better get her act together so she doesn't have to repeat sixth grade. Not only does she have to do Extra Credit but she needs to get good grades from now until the end of the school year. I read this school story to the 5th graders and we enjoyed learning about Afghanistan along with Abby. The pen pal idea was the teacher's and it made me want to arrange pen pals for my students to learn about another culture. I wonder how many of Andrew Clements' readers followed Abby and wrote to someone in a foreign country.

Goosebump Book Book Talk by Nick