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Free-Range Kid Mysteries #1
Angus Adams: The Adventures of a Free-range Kid
As a free-range kid, Angus is allowed to do things other kids his age aren’t – like play in the street and hang out at the park without adults (shock, horror!) But when he’s accused of stealing an iPhone from school, Angus must use all of his brains, resilience, and courage to catch the real thief, clear his name, and outwit the seriously bad dudes hot on his tail!
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 13, 2015
566 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Lee M. Winter
8 books29 followersWhen I’m not writing books, I work at my day job as a psychologist in the area of parenting and child behavior research. I have some boring scientific publications out under a pen name but find writing for children a lot more fun!
I live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia with my husband and two sons.
I live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia with my husband and two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 24, 2015
Disclosure, I was gifted a copy of this book for an honest review.
I loved the idea that Angus Adams was a free range kid. I loved that he was encouraged to play in the park, or run errands to the local market, or bike around the streets of town as I did as a child. But for Angus playing in the street is lonelier than it was for me, his classmates are not free range. Rather they are over scheduled, even their free time is a scheduled block of a designated number of minutes on a Tuesday after school. Then life gets complicated because unscheduled, free range Angus doesn't have a perfect alibi when a stolen cell phone is found in his desk at school, and things escalate as his classmates and the staff at his school blame him for a rash of stolen electronics.
There are parts of this book I love, I love the soccer kicking girl with a less than perfect family, that she loves anyway. I love the funny guesses I have to make about what certain Australian terms mean, "eating a Dagwood dog at the Ekka?" (A fair, perhaps?) Or sitting on something I visualize as a bed or futon, until the main character pulls one over his head, so maybe it was a sweater or a blanket? I'd never heard of a tidy tray, although the context soon assured me it didn't hold cat litter.
I love that the minor choices a kid might make are explored here in ways that are realistic. Someone plans to do the right thing, except in the moment it is easier to be silent and go along. Later something goes dangerously wrong but a little bit of calm thought and refusal to be a victim goes a long way. I love this story for its humor, it's reality, and most of all for its characters.
I loved the idea that Angus Adams was a free range kid. I loved that he was encouraged to play in the park, or run errands to the local market, or bike around the streets of town as I did as a child. But for Angus playing in the street is lonelier than it was for me, his classmates are not free range. Rather they are over scheduled, even their free time is a scheduled block of a designated number of minutes on a Tuesday after school. Then life gets complicated because unscheduled, free range Angus doesn't have a perfect alibi when a stolen cell phone is found in his desk at school, and things escalate as his classmates and the staff at his school blame him for a rash of stolen electronics.
There are parts of this book I love, I love the soccer kicking girl with a less than perfect family, that she loves anyway. I love the funny guesses I have to make about what certain Australian terms mean, "eating a Dagwood dog at the Ekka?" (A fair, perhaps?) Or sitting on something I visualize as a bed or futon, until the main character pulls one over his head, so maybe it was a sweater or a blanket? I'd never heard of a tidy tray, although the context soon assured me it didn't hold cat litter.
I love that the minor choices a kid might make are explored here in ways that are realistic. Someone plans to do the right thing, except in the moment it is easier to be silent and go along. Later something goes dangerously wrong but a little bit of calm thought and refusal to be a victim goes a long way. I love this story for its humor, it's reality, and most of all for its characters.
November 6, 2017
Summary:
Angus is a free-range kid. This means he is encouraged to play outside, go to the park on his own, and bike to the market to run a quick errand. However, his classmates are not free-range kids. They are all over scheduled (modern day) kids. Their free time is even a scheduled amount of time! This means Angus is on his own a lot of the time. One day, an iPhone is found in his desk at school. Since he does not have a solid alibi, he has to figure out who the culprit is to prove his innocence.
5 Higher Level Thinking Questions:
1) Analyze how Angus' feelings changed in the story.
2) How would you feel if you were accused of doing something you did not do?
3) What was the turning point in this story for Angus?
4) How did Angus feel about his friends not being free-range kids?
5) How would you have handled the situation had it been you accused of stealing someones phone?
Winter, L. M. (2015). Angus Adams: the adventures of a free-range kid. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Angus is a free-range kid. This means he is encouraged to play outside, go to the park on his own, and bike to the market to run a quick errand. However, his classmates are not free-range kids. They are all over scheduled (modern day) kids. Their free time is even a scheduled amount of time! This means Angus is on his own a lot of the time. One day, an iPhone is found in his desk at school. Since he does not have a solid alibi, he has to figure out who the culprit is to prove his innocence.
5 Higher Level Thinking Questions:
1) Analyze how Angus' feelings changed in the story.
2) How would you feel if you were accused of doing something you did not do?
3) What was the turning point in this story for Angus?
4) How did Angus feel about his friends not being free-range kids?
5) How would you have handled the situation had it been you accused of stealing someones phone?
Winter, L. M. (2015). Angus Adams: the adventures of a free-range kid. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
January 5, 2018
Angus Adams: The Adventures of a Free-Range Kid -- Lee M Winter (23 titled chapters) Dec. 30-31, 2017 [222 pages]
**I originally read this as a part of a book collection “8 Exciting Middle Grade Novels,” compiled by Paul Moxham.**
This story is set in Australia and has words that are unfamiliar to me. But this does not stop my enjoyment of a nicely written young adult/middle school mystery/adventure.
Angus needs to solve who stole some things that was blamed on him. He and his friend Hamish lead the investigation. It makes a list of suspects, and learns some things about these people as the story evolves. Later, a girl named Bodhi makes an appearance to round out the crew to help locate the missing items.
The mystery can easily be solved by following the clues that Angus finds as he investigates. That’s what I like the most about the story. This is like an Encyclopedia Brown mystery, except the case is solved without having to look in the back of the book.
I would read more by this author.
Four stars.
**I originally read this as a part of a book collection “8 Exciting Middle Grade Novels,” compiled by Paul Moxham.**
This story is set in Australia and has words that are unfamiliar to me. But this does not stop my enjoyment of a nicely written young adult/middle school mystery/adventure.
Angus needs to solve who stole some things that was blamed on him. He and his friend Hamish lead the investigation. It makes a list of suspects, and learns some things about these people as the story evolves. Later, a girl named Bodhi makes an appearance to round out the crew to help locate the missing items.
The mystery can easily be solved by following the clues that Angus finds as he investigates. That’s what I like the most about the story. This is like an Encyclopedia Brown mystery, except the case is solved without having to look in the back of the book.
I would read more by this author.
Four stars.
January 26, 2019
Loved it. Such a fun read.
As an adult reading a middle-grade book, I was pleasantly surprised at the writing style. It was so well written and not in the way that I feel some previously read middle-grade books degrade children minds by writing in a see Jane run type of way. This was smart. The words flowed freely not once falling stagnant.
The characters are such adorably thought out people who flawlessly take you on the journey of the school thief.
I'm a 37-year-old woman who thoroughly enjoyed this story. My kids loved it too. We look forward to reading more adventures with Angus.
As an adult reading a middle-grade book, I was pleasantly surprised at the writing style. It was so well written and not in the way that I feel some previously read middle-grade books degrade children minds by writing in a see Jane run type of way. This was smart. The words flowed freely not once falling stagnant.
The characters are such adorably thought out people who flawlessly take you on the journey of the school thief.
I'm a 37-year-old woman who thoroughly enjoyed this story. My kids loved it too. We look forward to reading more adventures with Angus.
August 13, 2018
Troubles, vanishing property, and friendships
Young Agnus is in trouble with a capital T. He and his friend Hammish
Try to clear his name, when being blamed for missing properly. Then a
New girl comes in on the seen causing a rift with Hammish and a missed
Phone call, then bad guys chasing them. It's a great book for young readers.
It has lots of excitement, bad guys and school bullies to keep them reading
till the book is finished. It's a very good reading mystery book.
Young Agnus is in trouble with a capital T. He and his friend Hammish
Try to clear his name, when being blamed for missing properly. Then a
New girl comes in on the seen causing a rift with Hammish and a missed
Phone call, then bad guys chasing them. It's a great book for young readers.
It has lots of excitement, bad guys and school bullies to keep them reading
till the book is finished. It's a very good reading mystery book.
September 21, 2022
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. Granted, I'm not the target audience, but the book is well written, the characters relatable and you can see the action as it happens without being bored with overwritten detail.
Pretty sure I know a lot of these characters - probably went to school with them myself.
Pretty sure I know a lot of these characters - probably went to school with them myself.
August 24, 2019
Funny, clean read
Angus and his friend, win a robotics competition. Unfortunately, items are being stolen at their school. One of the things, was found in Angus desk. Now, Angus and his friend, start trying to clear Angus of the crime.
Angus and his friend, win a robotics competition. Unfortunately, items are being stolen at their school. One of the things, was found in Angus desk. Now, Angus and his friend, start trying to clear Angus of the crime.
June 30, 2017
Good Stuff
Engaging writing style, believable characters, good pacing. If the summary sounds like an interesting plot to you, give it a go. Very well executed.
Engaging writing style, believable characters, good pacing. If the summary sounds like an interesting plot to you, give it a go. Very well executed.
August 29, 2017
This book had a ton of action, friendship, and excitement on an appropriate level, which is hard to come by these days. It was a very pleasurable read and I enjoyed it very much!
March 22, 2018
That book was so good.
July 24, 2024
Free-range is just like all of us kids of single-parent, usually working mom, in majority? Or does that depend on neighborhood. He is an ok kid nothing too special. Bullied. In the wrong place at the wrong time.
Hard to understand authority when parents absent. He does good for a regular today kid.
Hard to understand authority when parents absent. He does good for a regular today kid.
December 15, 2020
Cool book
I chose this rating because I feel the picture on the front of the book isn't representing the story itself. It is a good book anyways, exciting, fantastic.😘😍😉
I chose this rating because I feel the picture on the front of the book isn't representing the story itself. It is a good book anyways, exciting, fantastic.😘😍😉
November 17, 2020
Cute story.
March 27, 2021
This book is AWESOME!!! I got it for free on my kindle!!!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews