End-of-Summer Mysteries

I love summer and it's sliding away too quickly. But, before it's over, there's still time to read a great mystery. While there are a lot of fun mysteries for kids and teens, this series is one of my favorites.

The Enola Holmes Mysteries by Nancy Springer are set in England, where Enola - sister of Sherlock Holmes - sets off alone to solve her own set of mysteries.

In the first book, The Case of the Missing Marquess, Enola discovers her mother has disappeared. She travels to London in disguise to find out what has happened. Along the way, she gets caught up in the kidnapping of a young marquess. Now she must piece together the clues and solve the mystery.

Kids, especially ages 8-12, will enjoy this mystery series. You'll be cheering for Enola Holmes all the way.

Zeal of Zebras

My new favorite book of our recent arrivals is A ZEAL OF ZEBRAS by Woop Studios. This ABC book is published by Chronicle Books, one of my favorite publishers of well-designed, creative books.

A ZEAL OF ZEBRAS is "An Alphabet of Collective Nouns." In other words, those cool, often strange group names for certain kinds of animals. We all know about a Herd of Antelope or a Flock of Geese. But have you heard of an Aurora of Polar Bears? Or a Leap of Leopards?

Just guess what a group of cobras is called. Or Pandas. It's pretty cool! But, you'll have to look at the book to find out the answers.

A ZEAL OF ZEBRAS is graphically gorgeous and the collective nouns are surprising and fun. Adults and kids alike will enjoy this picture book.