Thursday, May 7, 2020

Digging Up Danger by Jacqueline West - ESSENTIAL

Digging Up Danger by Jacqueline West, illustrated by Hatem Aly, 275 pages. A Yearling Book (Penguin Random House), 2019. $8. 
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

This is a story built around the idea of a real kid who sent in her idea into the Story Pirates. During the story, the author directs you to the back of the book where it guides the reader through what the author is doing and how the reader can write their own mystery story. The story itself is about Eliza and her mom who move to a giant house to catalogue unique plants and have to solve a mystery around the peculiar effects of a stolen plant. 

I enjoyed both reading the story and learning how to write my own mystery story. I have no doubt this will both spark interest for students to try out mystery writing as well as improve the writing of regular student authors. 

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher

No comments: