OK, I have to say, I absolutely love it when established mystery authors write children’s mysteries. I love it! By “established” I mean that they are already known for mystery books that adults enjoy. Katherine Hall Page wrote the Christie & Company Mystery Series for 5th to 8th graders, James Patterson writes the Middle School Series (as well as three other series for teens), John Grisham writes the (for young adults) Theodore Boone Mystery Series, Harlan Coben writes the young adult Mickey Bolitar Mystery Series, Peter Abrahams (aka Spencer Quinn) writes the Echo Falls Mystery Series, Carl Hiaasen‘s funny children’s books all take place in Florida, Penny Warner writes the Code Busters Club Mystery Series, Chris Grabenstein has written several award winning mysteries for children 9-12, and just a few weeks ago I found out that Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan) writes the Andi Boggs Mystery Series.
Who knew?!?
Whenever I post the winners/nominees for different mystery awards, I become aware of more and more “established” authors who are now writing mysteries for children and young adults. I think that’s terrific! So, here are two mystery series for children that are written by two of our Cozy Mystery authors. Both of them have been nominated for the prestigious Agatha Award for Best Children/Young Adult Novels:
writes the Code Busters Club Mystery Series. The Code Busters Club is made up by Cody, Luke, Quinn, and M.E. >>> all are children who enjoy using different types of codes like Morse Code, American Sign Language, and Consonant Code. These four have a private club with all sorts of passwords. They use different types of codes to help them solve mysteries.These books actually involve the reader, having him/her work out different codes throughout the mystery books. All three mystery books in the Code Busters Club Mystery Series have been nominated for the Agatha Award Best Children/Young Adult Novel for 2011, 2012, and 2013. (for ages 9-12)
Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan) writes the Andi Boggs Mystery Series. Andi (Andora) Boggs is a twelve year old girl with a passion for all-things-science. After the death of her parents, Andi and her teen sister move in with their aunt, who isn’t much older than they are (in her 20s). “Andi Unexpected” is the first novel in the Andi Boggs series, and it was nominated for the 2013 Agatha Award Best Children/Young Adult Novel. (for ages 9-12)
(I posted part of this entry a little while back on Facebook, and my husband asked me why I didn’t actually write an entire entry about this for the Cozy Mystery site, since he knows how much I love that these authors are writing mysteries for children. I then took it off of Facebook, and finished the entry, and finally posted it here.)
If you’d like to take a look at more children’s books that have been nominated/won the Agatha Award: Best Children/Young Adult Novel, click here.
Tessa~ says
‘andi unexpected’ sounds like i want to read it!!!!!
thank you!
tessa~
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Tessa, I know what you mean!
Judith says
You mentioned Chris Grabenstein (who won the Agatha this year), but the remaining two nominees in the Children/Young Adult category also write for both adults and children.
Joelle Charbonneau, who writes the Rebecca Robbins Roller Rink Mysteries and the Glee Club Mysteries, was nominated for The Testing, the first in her dystopian thriller trilogy. This series has been likened to The Hunger Games books. Ms. Charbonneau was working with voice students who were auditioning for college and started thinking about what could be a worse process which led to this series.
Kathleen Ernst, who writes the Chloe Ellefson Mysteries, was nominated for The Traitor in the Shipyard, an American Girl Mystery. I am a huge fan of the American Girl books (and I admit, I like the dolls, too).
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Judith, thanks for the information. I have Joelle Charbonneau (Glee Club Mystery Series and Rebecca Robbins Mystery Series) on the site, and probably should have included her with the two Cozy Mystery site authors I highlighted. Actually, I should have written about all five of them.
(Also, I could have slipped Carl Hiassen‘s children’s book in. He has been nominated before, and those books look absolutely delightful!