What do you think?
Rate this book
Mystery Isle
Bright, curious thirteen-year-old Kim is spending a summer on Shag Island in Maine. The island and mansion on it have been in her family for generations, but now Kim’s great-grandfather intends to sell them. Kim and her mother busy themselves with preparations, but when Mom is called away on business, Kim and great-grandpa find themselves alone on the island. strange music, bright flashing lights, and an exotic parrot convince great-grandpa that he is losing his mind. But Kim knows what she saw, and as she digs into the mystery, soon realizes they are in grave danger. Now she must discover what—or who—is haunting Shag Island.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
4 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 5, 2019
I cannot really do an in depth review on this as I read it as a child and have not yet done a reread but I had done a review of one of the writer's other books, which I loved and did reread so I decided to do a short review on this one. When I reread, I will write more.
Judith ST. George was such an amazing writer. This book is about Kim, who goes to stay an a mysterious and hauntingly beautiful island in Maine and gets pulled into a mystery there involving the home where she is staying. It's a short book but wonderful (from what I remember).
It was not my favorite book by this writer. That would be "The Girl with Spunk", also written for children, about the women's suffrage movement. This book isn't social or political in nature. It's just a short exquisite little mystery taking place on the ocean and the book is filled with rich descriptive Prose. Kim is a fun character and I plan to reread this soon.
I would really recommend any of this writer's literature. Her work is amazing, enriching and substantial.
Judith ST. George was such an amazing writer. This book is about Kim, who goes to stay an a mysterious and hauntingly beautiful island in Maine and gets pulled into a mystery there involving the home where she is staying. It's a short book but wonderful (from what I remember).
It was not my favorite book by this writer. That would be "The Girl with Spunk", also written for children, about the women's suffrage movement. This book isn't social or political in nature. It's just a short exquisite little mystery taking place on the ocean and the book is filled with rich descriptive Prose. Kim is a fun character and I plan to reread this soon.
I would really recommend any of this writer's literature. Her work is amazing, enriching and substantial.
Read
May 3, 2013This book was a cliff hanger!!!!!!!!!!! It was a great book who new that somebody could be as sad of the sea as Kim.Kim was looking forward to leaving her home town she was excited to go and explore and help her grandfather sell his to house but when she gets down there she learns and see all the secrets of her grandfathers house and learns that everything he said was true he wasn't crazy.Kim's mom has to leave for a business trip and when she does Kim and her grandfather are alone and weird things happen in the house they hear noises and things fall and things disappear. I wont spoil the end for everyone that wants to read things but it is a good book!!!!!!!!!!!
April 1, 2022
The book that iread is a decent book it is not one of the best books i have read. The chapters are very short.The book was also kinda boring that's why i gave it a 2 out of 5 stars.The plot s that a 12 year old girl kim is trying to leave new york city for a summer to go to shag island.The theme is treat others how u want to be treated. The dynamic character is kim because she changed her attitude threw out the story. The static charter is the mom cause she kinda was mad all the time. I rated the book like that because it was very boring no excitement at all.
August 7, 2022
This is part of my adults read juvenile fiction project I have been working on and I have to say, yes, it is written simply and all so that middle grades (4th-6th I would say) can appreciate it and understand it but the plot is straight out of one of the gothic romances I love, like Phyllis Whitney for instance. Such a great story and really kept me in the book for the whole 2 hours it took me to read. I absolutely couldn't put it down. The characters are fleshed out well and the ending is somewhat surprising. All ages I think can appreciate it.
October 14, 2022
I love this book! It is a creepy, scary mystery about a girl who has to find what is wrong with the island she moved on with her Great-Grandpa. I would recommend it if you are in to mystery and creepy books.
Read
March 20, 2009Twelve year old Kim isn't looking forward to leaving New York City for a summer on Shag Island Maine. The island-and mansion that sits on it- have been in her family for generations, but now Kim's great-grandfather intends to sell both the island and the house! Kim and her mother busy themselves with preparations, but when Mom is called away on a business trip, Kim and Great-Grandpa find themselves alone on the island. Strange music, bright flashing lights, and an exotic parrot convince Great-Grandpa that he is losing his mind, like his father before him. But Kim knows what she saw, and as she digs into the mystery, she soon realizes that they are in grave danger. It's up to her to discover what, or who, is haunting Shag Island.
One tantalizing tidbit I found was: "I'm tall and thin, too, but skinny thin, so that I'm too tall for preteen and too flat for juniors. And I have kinky brown hair. Not wavy or fluffy, just plain kinky. Sarah tried to straighten it for me once, but it just frizzed back up like a cat getting angry, so I just keep it really short."
Another tantalizing tidbit I found was: "Haunting Music breaks the silence of the night.
"Listen," I said. "Someone's trying to scare you into thinking you're crazy. But you're not! I see those lights. And hear that music, too."
Wait, I could tape the music. Then Great-Grandpa would know it wasn't all in his head. But that meant leaving the safety of his bed. Move, Kimball, I ordered. I watched my feet swing off the bed, just as the dazzling light blacked out. I took a deep breath, raced out the door and across the hall to my room, snatched up my radio and a new tape, sped back to Great-Grandpa's room, jumped on his bed, and let out my breath like I had swum the distance underwater. Dash sauntered in behind me. My hands shook as I took out the family history tape that Great-Grandpa and I had been recording and slipped in the new tape."
One question I had from the book is that why wouldn't Kim's mom take her with her on the business trip. Or even just drop her back off at her house in New York City?
One tantalizing tidbit I found was: "I'm tall and thin, too, but skinny thin, so that I'm too tall for preteen and too flat for juniors. And I have kinky brown hair. Not wavy or fluffy, just plain kinky. Sarah tried to straighten it for me once, but it just frizzed back up like a cat getting angry, so I just keep it really short."
Another tantalizing tidbit I found was: "Haunting Music breaks the silence of the night.
"Listen," I said. "Someone's trying to scare you into thinking you're crazy. But you're not! I see those lights. And hear that music, too."
Wait, I could tape the music. Then Great-Grandpa would know it wasn't all in his head. But that meant leaving the safety of his bed. Move, Kimball, I ordered. I watched my feet swing off the bed, just as the dazzling light blacked out. I took a deep breath, raced out the door and across the hall to my room, snatched up my radio and a new tape, sped back to Great-Grandpa's room, jumped on his bed, and let out my breath like I had swum the distance underwater. Dash sauntered in behind me. My hands shook as I took out the family history tape that Great-Grandpa and I had been recording and slipped in the new tape."
One question I had from the book is that why wouldn't Kim's mom take her with her on the business trip. Or even just drop her back off at her house in New York City?
September 18, 2013
"The Chinese Puzzle of Shag Island" by Judith St. George(also known as "Mystery Isle"), is about a girl named Kim, who is going with her mom to visit her great-grandfather Lester on Shag Island. The reason for this business is because Lester has a house containing lots of valuable items, and he wishes to sell it, according to his letters. Kim is not particularly enthusiastic about visiting Lester Kimball, due to the fact that he lives in an old mansion, as well as the fact that since he is old, he is probably crabby. But her journey their proves her wrong, as Lester not only has a good sense of humor, but he also has amazing stories to tell about the family's long history. Strangely though, when Kim's mom approached him about caculating how much the house will sell, he claims that he doesn't want to sell the house, and when she asks about the letter he sent, and even shows it to him, he claims that he has never seen that letter before in his life. What is even stranger is how Kim's great-grandfather has been seeing strange lights,hearing odd music,and seeing an exotic parrot. Quite recently Sophie(a person who has taken care of Kim's great-grandfather Lester for four years) has been acting rather strange lately.....
This story will have you captivated as the relationship between Kim and her grandfather grow, and as the mysteries on Shag Island unfold slowly.
This story will have you captivated as the relationship between Kim and her grandfather grow, and as the mysteries on Shag Island unfold slowly.
April 17, 2012
Another book I picked up for $1.00 because it has "Mystery" in the title. It's a fairly quick read that held my interest and was a bit reminiscent of a young Nancy Drew book. That's good. Twelve year-old Kim and her mother travel to Shag Island, off the coast of Maine, to help Kim's great grandpa get the house ready to sale. However, strange things happen: weird Chinese music, grandpa insisting that he never sent Kim's mother a letter to come visit, and that he has never planned on selling the house. The reader (adult one anyway) quickly realizes that it's a plan to dupe an old man into thinking he's crazy in order to get him off the island. The island is remote and can only be reached by boat. Things come to a head when Kim's mom is called back to New York and leaves Kim and great grandpa alone on the island in a house with no locks on the doors and somebody determined to get rid of the old man. Oh, and in a terrible storm. I really wasn't certain who was behind it all until the last chapters when it was impossible not to know.
March 18, 2013
this book was about a girl who lived with her mom had a greatgrandpa and he had sent them a letter to come to shaq island to help clean up the manchin so the could start putting it up for sale one night when the girl was sleeping upstairs she kept hearing wierd music and she was freaked out she tried to just fall asleep and forget about it but she couldnt so the next morning she got up early and her great granpa and the house keeper were already downstairs making breakfast and the girl's mom was still in bed she finally got up but it was late and the found out that the manchin is somewhat haunted.
October 8, 2014
The title of the book is Mystery Isie ,the authors name is Judith St.George .I did not like.The book because I thought the book was going to be about a house with ghost ,but instead the story was about a girl and her family they were hearing strange things and they were seeing flashing lights and strange music in the house. The setting of the book was on a island , the main characters are kim and she is 10 years old and her mom and great grandpapa. The main conflict was that they have to deal with ghost in the house. I would recommend this book to others if the like spoky story.I would recommend this book to destiny jones becaues she love to read mystery books.
January 27, 2009
This book really hits home with me! I have just recently suffered the loss of my Grandfather and he also lived in Maine. My name is Kim and this girl`s name is Kimball! Also she is 12 when I am a mere 13! She seemed so much like me that is was suprising to read! Anyway I thought the book was one of the best mysteries I have ever read! And I would reccommend it to anyone who would listen!
June 22, 2010
This is another book I read for a possible book with my students. I liked this little mystery. It had the main character going to an island with little electricity, no computer, no cell phone let alone a land phone, but she had her great-grandfather. Nice little mystery that includes birds, Chinese music, secret compartments and secret rooms. Great book.
September 17, 2011
Yawn! The first like, 4 chapters are BORING, CONFUSING, AND OFF TOPIC- one minute they're talking about grades at school and the next they're talking about the main character's parent's divorce. I guess it gets better after the mystery starts to take shape. You'll need to read the first 4 chapter at least twice before anything makes sense.
October 2, 2017
I enjoyed this older novel (written in 1976) about a 13-year-old girl trying to figure out who was trying to make her great-grandfather sell his house against his will--who was trying to prove that he was too senile to know anything. The people you think are the bad guys turn out to be the good guys.
July 20, 2015
Mystery Isle was a cute little mystery story. It was definitely not an edge-of-your-seat thriller but I was interested to find out what was happening on the island.
This book is fine for a middle school classroom library.
This book is fine for a middle school classroom library.
December 16, 2007
sort of scary but good
September 13, 2008
this book was soooooo amazing!!!! i loved it!!!
December 4, 2008
Meh...this book was...okay...
January 12, 2009
Kim is visiting her great-grandpa for the summer and someone is trying to make it so he will think he is crazy, so they play weird music, have bright flashing lights and have an exotic parrot.
February 6, 2009
loved this book, and it has a girl named kim! haha. good book. mysteries. suspense. =)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews