THE MYSTERY MONSTER

This book is dedicated to “curious Fact Collectors everywhere.”

When 8-year-old Paige moves onto Evergreen Street, she begins collecting information in her Fact Diary—facts like the “street has exactly seventy-three windows,” and an 8-year-old boy named Penn lives next door. A talkative Penn introduces Paige to the “puddle that’s shaped like Texas,” “a kid with a pet rock,” and the undiscovered neighborhood monster. That’s when Paige kicks into gear. It’s a Fact Collector’s “responsibility to tell people when they are wrong. ‘Fact: Monsters are NOT real.’ ” After Paige records what Penn knows about the monster (“leaves behind footprints…hides in bushes…scary screeches”), the two kids prowl the neighborhood in search of evidence. Through careful observation and deduction, Paige proves there is no monster…until a loud “AROOOO” and a strange shadow make Paige and Penn rethink their conclusion. The text is carried in a combination of Paige’s first-person narration and dialogue bubbles. Paige’s notebook pages and random fun facts—“wombat’s poop is cube-shaped”; the “original name for Uranus was…George”; the “Earth is struck by lightning 100 times per second”—add to the kid appeal. They are interspersed throughout the nine chapters, which are nine to 15 pages in length. Paige has purple hair, blue eyes, and beige skin; Penn has light-brown skin and eyes and a pouf of curly, blue-green hair. Their neighborhood is minimally diverse.

Sound detective work, unexpected twists, and plenty of fun for the young mystery fan ready for longer and more chapters.