Mystery & Adventure

Top reading picks for junior mystery and adventure

Updated December 4, 2023
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The Bad Guys in the furball strikes back
Blabey, Aaron
Paper Book
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!"I wish I'd had these books as a kid. Hilarious!" -- Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants and Dog ManThey may look like Bad Guys, but these wannabe heroes are doing good deeds...whether you like it or not! This New York Times bestselling illustrated...
Rory Branagan, detective
Clover, Andrew
Paper Book
"Such fun! And, happily, more to come!" - Kirkus Reviews Be bold, be curious, be DETECTIVES! The first book in this hilarious crime-fighting middle-grade detective series reads like an extended graphic novel for aspirational readers and devoted fans of diary-style fiction. ...
Rory Branagan, detective
Clover, Andrew
Paper Book
"Such fun! And, happily, more to come!" - Kirkus Reviews Be bold, be curious, be DETECTIVES! The first book in this hilarious crime-fighting middle-grade detective series reads like an extended graphic novel for aspirational readers and devoted fans of diary-style fiction. ...
The chicken squad
Cronin, Doreen
Paper Book
Now an animated series on Disney Junior! They might be chicks, but they sure aren't chicken, and they're on a mission. And on this, their first (mis)adventure "in this delightful spinoff of the J.J. Tully series" (Kirkus Reviews), the Chicken Squad launches a...
Evil genius
Grabenstein, Chris
Paper Book
Meet middle schooler Jake McQuade. Jake became the smartest kid in the universe when he accidentally ate a jarful of ingestible knowledge jelly beans. But what happens when those jelly beans fall into the wrong hands?! Readers who enjoy the action of the Last Kids on Earth books will...
Genius Camp
Grabenstein, Chris
Paper Book
"Chris Grabenstein just might be the smartest writer for kids in the universe." --James Patterson The Smartest Kid in the Universe goes to genius camp in book two of this action-packed series from the New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's...
The smartest kid in the universe
Grabenstein, Chris
Paper Book
NOMINATED FOR MULTIPLE STATE AWARDS! "Chris Grabenstein just might be the smartest writer for kids in the universe." --James Patterson Meet the Smartest Kid in the Universe in this fun-packed series from the New York Times Bestselling Author of Escape from Mr....
Revenge of the phantom furball
Hay, Sam
Paper Book
Disaster strikes when Bonsai the pug chases Pickle the cat into the street, where she is flattened by a car. But the fact that Pickle has (almost) shuffled off her mortal coil isn't her biggest concern; she is worried that Bonsai will pursue her sister Pebble into an early grave too, unless she and...
Revenge of the phantom furball
Hay, Sam
Paper Book
Disaster strikes when Bonsai the pug chases Pickle the cat into the street, where she is flattened by a car. But the fact that Pickle has (almost) shuffled off her mortal coil isn't her biggest concern; she is worried that Bonsai will pursue her sister Pebble into an early grave too, unless she and...
Extincts vol 1 : Quest for the unicorn horn.
Magoon, Scott
Paper Book
In The Extincts: Quest for the Unicorn Horn, a team of genetically enhanced extinct animals embark on top-secret missions around the world--first in New York Times bestselling illustrator Scott Magoon's graphic novel series. Meet...
The extincts. 2 Flight of the mammoth
Magoon, Scott
Paper Book
A team of genetically enhanced extinct animals embark on top-secret missions around the world in the second entry in this action-packed graphic novel series--now in paperback! After stopping Dr. Z's nefarious plan and rescuing the unicorn horn, things haven't quite been the...
Real pigeons eat danger
McDonald, Andrew 1982-
Paper Book
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's--wait, it really IS a bird! Take another look, because what looks like an ordinary pigeon might just be a hero saving your butt! The high-flying adventures continue in book 2 of this hilarious illustrated series perfect for fans of BAD GUYS and DOG MAN.<...
Real Pigeons fight crime!
McDonald, Andrew 1982-
Paper Book
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's--wait, it really IS a bird! Take another look, because what looks like an ordinary pigeon might just be a hero saving your butt! Meet the crime-fighting pigeons secretly flying around chasing bad guys in this hilarious illustrated series perfect for...
Real Pigeons get bready
McDonald, Andrew
Paper Book
Get BREADY for the sixth hilarious adventure in the best-selling REAL PIGEONS series! Can the Real Pigeons save the day when they're the ones getting crumbed? The REAL PIGEONS are a team of crime-fighters who battle baddies wherever they go! But fighting crime...
Real pigeons: get bready!
McDonald, Andrew 1982-
Paper Book
Get BREADY for the sixth hilarious adventure in the best-selling REAL PIGEONS series! Can the Real Pigeons save the day when they're the ones getting crumbed? The REAL PIGEONS are a team of crime-fighters who battle baddies wherever they go! But fighting crime...
Minerva Keen's Detective Club
Patterson, James 1947-
Paper Book
James Patterson has just created the most spine-tingling, creepy-crawling, giggle-producing kid's detective club ever. That's ever.   Living in the luxurious Arcanum building--with its interior balconies perfect for playing tag, an...
Friday Barnes, girl detective
Spratt, R. A.
Paper Book
"A must-have series for middle-grade readers." --Booklist A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, 2017 Imagine if Sherlock Holmes was an eleven-year-old girl! When Friday Barnes, girl genius, solves a bank robbery, she uses the...
Under suspicion
Spratt, R. A.
Paper Book
"A must-have series for middle-grade readers." --Booklist Friday Barnes, girl detective, is... under arrest?! Getting arrested was the last thing Friday expected after solving the swamp-yeti mystery at her boarding school. But she better clear her name fast...
Wave riders
St. John, Lauren 1966-
Paper Book
The sea almost killed them, and now it must lead them to the truth in this standalone middle-grade eco-mystery about twins lost on the high seas from the author of the bestselling novel The White Giraffe. Twelve-year-old Jess and Jude live a dream life on a battered old...
Camp creepy
White, Kiersten
Paper Book
The third book in the middle-grade series that's part Scooby-Doo, part A Series of Unfortunate Events, and entirely genius! Follow the Sinister-Winterbottoms on their most outrageous adventure yet, when they find themselves at a normal summer camp! After leaving the...
Vampiric vacation
White, Kiersten
Paper Book
The spooky summer adventures of the Sinister-Winterbottom twins continue in another gothic mystery- can Theo and Alexander solve the secret of the Sanguine Spa in the little Transylvania Mountains? The second book in the new Sinister Summer series by #1 NYT bestselling author Kiersten...
Wretched waterpark
White, Kiersten
Paper Book
A middle-grade mystery series that's spooky, creepy, and filled with gothic twists!Meet the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who solve mysteries at increasingly bizarre summer vacation destinations in the hopes of being reunited with their parents-or at the very least finally finding a good churro....
Menacing manor
White, Kiersten
Paper Book
Book four in the tragic series about the Sinister-Winterbottom twins, who must solve one wretched mystery after the next, brought to you by #1 New York Times bestselling author KIERSTEN WHITE. The electrifying penultimate adventure finds the Sinister-Winterbottoms at the...
The maze of bones
Young, Ethan
Paper Book
The graphic novel adaptation of the mega-bestseller that launched a global phenomenon! Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her decendants an impossible decision: "You have a choice - one million dollars or a clue." Grace is the last matriarch of the...

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