Digging for Trouble: A Devlin Quick Mystery ~ REVIEW

 

Linda Fairstein, introduced 12-year-old sleuth Devlin Quick to young readers in her first book, Into the Lion’s Den in her popular Devlin Quick mystery series.  Devlin Quick returns this month in DIGGING FOR TROUBLE: A DEVLIN QUICK MYSTERY  as a modern-day Nancy Drew determined to solve mysteries.

I never read Nancy Drew as a kid, I missed that boat.  But Kaden loves a good mystery and trying to figure out the clues as he reads.  I knew this would be a perfect series to have him read.  And like always I like to collect activities and spin off ideas for further learning from the books we read.  This book has lot's of opportunities to explore so many different learning experiences.  Obviously the Dinosaurs, Paleontology, volcanoes, fossils and even geology.  Kaden broke out his huge collection of gems and rocks and reclassified them all.

He's also made some fossils of dino prints with homemade clay.  Other areas that we are looking into that was inspired from this book is Sleuthing....making a detective kit, taking fingerprints and even doing some secret decoding work.  Also over last Summer we spent time in the Badlands, so we are going to review with pictures and journal entries our time there along with a brief study of both Montana and New York.  You can find my Pinterest Board HERE....it's filled with tons of things we plan to do together.

We are almost half way through the book...we had a few family interruptions this past month, so we have a lot of catch up reading to do. :)  In this new installment, main character Devlin heads for the Badlands of Montana with her best friend Katie to dig out dinosaur bones.  She soon suspects foul play when Katie’s found fossils are switched out for fakes.  The good news?  With Devlin’s police commissioner Mother at home in New York, no one can stop Devlin from investigating!  But Montana is a treacherous place for finding answers.  And when the mystery takes Devlin and Katie back to Manhattan--to the Museum of Natural History--the case gets much more complicated, even with Dev's friend Booker there to help.  She has to use her brains, brawn, and yes, okay, the lessons learned from her Mom if she wants to dig up the truth once and for all.  So exciting!!!

Right now we are reading about a surprise sleep over at the Museum for Katie's 12th Birthday.  Kaden was so on the edge of the couch as we read about her getting to sleep next to a real dinosaur in her sleeping bag.  Kaden now has this wild idea that maybe we can do this at the San Fran Museum....maybe, but for now we are captivated by the Museum guide, Keisha in the story as she walks them through sharing tid-bits of fun info.  I will say that there is a tiny bit of pre-teen drama, like crushes and typical banter.  Nothing that was a put off, seemed more logical and real life to me.  But, Kaden being only 10 and on the Spectrum really didn't get any of it.  This is geared for preteen/ middle school kiddos.  Very fun book, I love how the kids are intrigued, inspired and making things happen.....this is a great Christmas gift for your little bookworm!  I need to get book one now for sure!

Linda Fairstein is best known as the internationally bestselling author of the Alex Cooper mystery series for adults, which have been translated into more than a dozen languages. She first dreamed of writing mysteries in the sixth grade. A voracious reader of Nancy Drew, Linda penned her first caper for kids, The Secret of Apple Tree Farm at the age of 11. Last fall, Fairstein returned to her childhood passion with the publication of Into the Lion’s Den. Prior to writing, Linda worked at the Manhattan District Attorney's office as the head of the Special Victims Unit from 1976 to 2002. She lives in Manhattan, Martha’s Vineyard, and Big Timber, Montana.