The Case of the Haunted History Museum

Museum Mysteries #1

by Steve Brezenoff, Lisa K. Weber (Illustrator)

Capitol City's Natural History Museum is haunted or at least that's what someone wants people to think. But Wilson Kipper, son of the museum's head paleontologist, knows better. When the mysterious occurrences go from spooky to dangerous, the museum is forced to close its doors. Can Wilson and his friends get to the bottom of this museum mystery, or will the Natural History Museum be closed for good? Discussion questions, writing prompts, a glossary, and nonfiction resources continue the reader's learning experience long after this e-book ends.

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Middle Grade, Dinosaurs, Friendship

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Steve Brezenoff is the author of the young adult novels The Absolute Value of -1 and Brooklyn, Burning, and his third, Guy In Real Life, will be released in 2014. He has also written dozens of chapter books for younger readers. Though Steve grew up in a suburb on Long Island, he now lives with his wife and their son in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Reviews

[Andrew J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spotted two of this book's sequels on a shelf at the library and then ran across the sequels at the next couple of visits before I decided to put the first one on hold. It's... cute... It's also interesting that there's four races represented in this story; a Muslim girl (Amal Farrah, 11), a middle eastern boy (Raining Sam, 12; curious first name choice), a black boy (Wilson Kipper, 10) and a white girl (Clementine Wim, 13). Each of them have a parent that works at a museum, which is somewhat how they all met. For this first book, Steve Brezenoff started with Wilson's mother's employer, the History Museum. To be more specific, a Palaeontological History Museum.

While Amal, Raining, Wilson, and Clementine are coming in to see the new Pterosaurs exhibit, a replica of a Quetzalcoatlus skeleton falls from the ceiling destroying it and a Pterosaur replica. The only warning they and the others in the area get is a large snap from the ceiling. While Mr. Collini, Carolyn Kipper's (I'm assuming her last name is the same as her son's, but it may not be) boss decides to call in a paranormal investigation team and a psychic to get to the bottom of the potential haunting, they (Amal, Raining, and Wilson) decide to be nosey and see if they can figure out what's going on. Clementine somewhat reluctantly agrees even though her belief is that the museum is haunted.

Other characters included Lev (the security guard), and Sierra, Ruthie, and Sloan (from Amal's school. I don't think it's ever specified whether those three and the four main characters go to the same school or not).

I figured out 'whodunit' a little after page 50, so it was a little predictable. I thought the glossary of 10 words at the back was adorable. However, the discussion questions (at the back as well) creates a probably-unexpected question. For the 1, 2, & 3 numbering, someone at Stone Arch books or Brezenoff himself neglected to notice that the number was 1, 2, & 2. The whole 'it's a kids book, who will notice' thing may have been applied here.

I did not think it was necessary, really, for the main character to be so randomly declared an atheist. It really had no relevance to the story whatsoever. Idk. On a brighter note, I'm not a dinosaur buff, so I actually learned a few things under the Dinosaur facts (again, at the back of the book), and I honestly had no idea what a Pterosaur or a Quetzalcoatlus was. Some pictures online of what the former may have looked like make it look like a bird that's had a evil spell cast on it, and pictures of what the latter may have looked like make it look like a giraffe with a very sharp nose. Oy.

I still liked it despite its predictability. 3 stars.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big thanks to our local librarian for finding us a new series to start after we finished Zapato Power! My 6-year-old was so into this book that he asked me to read it to him even outside of our pre-bedtime reading time. The mystery and solution weren't particularly spectacular — the reveal was a little Scooby-Doo, with the culprit confessing as soon as they're confronted — but the book was well written and I was happy to see a diverse group of kids making up the sleuthing friends. I'll be picking up the next two in the series tomorrow for us to continue with the mysteries!

[Monica Hocking · Rating 4 out of 5]

This another good book in series. This one was primarily about dinosaurs, something that me no really seek out. But me still enjoy the book! Kept me interested and also picked up some new knowledge along the way.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast-paced and plot driven. Large print, with color illustrations. Good for reluctant readers.

[Karen Broughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice quick gentle story, great way to introduce primary school age children to museums. Second one ive read and enjoyed will defintely be reading the next one soon.

[Mehsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this book, but I really have to deduct 1 star for the spelling/grammar mistakes that I found. A main character's name was written wrong (Clemetine instead of Clementine), Knick of Time instead of Nick of time, a few words here and there that didn't need the - between them, weird word use. There might have been more. It is just a shame that apparently they missed a few things while bringing this book out. I am not saying I am an expert or know everything, I might make mistakes too, but I am not a professional, I am just a reader who reads books and hopes they are edited correctly.

Also how the kids handled the mystery was a bit strange and who they thought were suspects was a bit odd. For instance they thought a group of girls they knew were the suspects and it took them quite long to figure out that the girls didn't have anything to do with the whole mystery. Seriously? What is up with those kids? You think 3 puny, little girls can just move a velociraptor in the middle of the night? Or cut through cables so stuff comes crashing down? A model that was hanging on the ceiling? Logical thinking is difficult it seems. And sure, those girls tried to steal ice cream, but that is really a whole different beast than breaking and entering.
Luckily, they moved on to the real suspects and then it started to get a bit better and more interesting. The actual suspect was an easy one to figure out. Still it was nice to see the kids finally reach that solution as well.

It seems we have a lot of diversity represented in this book. We got a white girl, a black guy, a Muslim girl (at least I am guessing that is it, since she wears the Hijab) and then we have some guy who looks Native American.

The illustrations were pretty good and they really gave the story the needed boost.

All in all, I am not sure if I will continue with this series. The story and the characters were pretty interesting (though they should get some new brains), I did like the illustrations, but I really value good spelling/grammar. And that is something the book was lacking at times.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[American Mensa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes place at an American History Museum. Wilson, a ten year old boy whose mom works at the museum, and his three friends named Amal, Raining, and Clementine meet up at the museum. Wilson wants to show his friends the new flag room at the museum. They enter the room and see that someone had used a black marker to make graffiti on one of the flags. The kids tell one of the security guards what had happened. He gets out a ladder and takes a look for himself and is shocked at what he sees.

The kids venture off into a different part of the museum. They soon discover more graffiti work throughout various places around the museum. One of the new security guards thinks they did it and brings them to the Head of the Security. She knows the kids and knows that they would not do this. She yells at the new security guard defending the kids. She also asks the kids to find and make friends with the new security guards son. He’s not any nicer than his dad and both are raciest and prejudice. This doesn’t stop the kids from solving the mystery of the vandal.
This is a great read for kids who are around ages eight to thirteen. It’s a fun and suspenseful book, but it also makes a very important point about treating everyone fairly and without prejudice. It’s important for people to not go around judging others by how they look or where they are from or stuff like that. This is a great book for kids to read with a parent or teacher so they can better understand these things.
Review by Hayden S., age 8, SE Michigan Mensa

[KP · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little book, but with little actual substance. The kids jump right into solving the mystery as though they do it all the time, but there is no background story for any of them. There are a few facts for kids to learn, but there are certainly books that do it a little better. Nonetheless, it really is a cute story, and I appreciate the surface diversity of the characters (though there is, again, little depth to it).