The Case of the Missing Mom

Museum Mysteries #5

by Steve Brezenoff, Lisa K. Weber

A shipment of dinosaur bones meant for a new exhibit has been stolen from the Capitol City Natural History Museum! But even worse, the group of paleontologists working on the shipment has disappeared too--and among them is Wilson Kipper's mother. Wilson and his friends are determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, but can they do it in time to save his missing mom?

Genres: Mystery, Childrens

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2016

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

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This one was something different from the rest of the series, as it's more about the missing people than the museum artifacts that have also gone missing. I didn't guess the solution, part of which was clever (the fake bed) and part of which was far-fetched (No one in the museum noticed the fake, badly painted wall? The police didn't spot the match between the paint in the lab and the fresh paint on the wall?). I thought it was a little odd that the "learning" highlight of this book was about prehistoric humans, who don't really come up in the book except as a setting (and I side-eyed the artist's choice to make the prehistoric humans light-skinned), when typically the focus is on the item that is stolen/vandalized/etc. There was also a weird part where the kids are wildly speculating about foreign influences that might be involved in the disappearances. On the positive side, Brezenoff suddenly decided six books in to give Wilson two moms, and it's always nice to see that kind of casual representation of a queer couple. This definitely wasn't my favorite of the series, but it was one of the better ones.

[Monica Hocking · Rating 4 out of 5]

This continues to be a go to series for me, and for several reasons! 1- you no have to read them in any kind of certain order, yet each one exposes you to something new. 2 - you learn more and more about the four categories of museums with each story. 3- you continues to learn about each of the four main characters in each story. And finally, you almost always pick-up on some new interesting facts and tibits along the way! Totally Awesome!

[Karen Broughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

love this series, such lovely feel to reading this series. So glad i found them, have enjoyed everyone of them. I am building a nice little collection of " museum mysteries" a nice light read at the end of some very hectic days. Back to my next museum mystery book in the series.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great mystery novel for younger readers 9 - 11!

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute series-4 friends, whose parents work at various museums, search for clues to try to find Wilson’s missing mom

[Teresa Scherping Moulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilson and his three best friends spend a lot of time at the Capital City Museum Authority because they each have parents who work at the different museums. One morning Wilson is waiting to her from his mom, who stayed up late at the Natural History Museum to unpack some crates of rare dinosaur bones. But when Wilson doesn't hear from his mom all day, he goes to investigate. It turns out that the dinosaur bones are missing and all the scientists who had been unpacking the shipment are missing. Now the race is on to find Wilson's mom and the other scientists before something terrible happens - but will the authorities even let a bunch of kids help out?

Early chapter book mysteries are not my favorite thing. I don't know that I'll ever read one that I love. But this one was above average. I liked the realism of it that just strains credibility to make a good story where the kids are actually involved in solving the mystery. What I liked the most, though, was how this story sprinkles in clues that will be relevant later but that I (as an adult reader) couldn't figure out right away. I read this hoping that it might count as a low reading level thriller, but I don't know if it's exciting enough to be called a "thriller," even though the main character's mom is kidnapped? I do like the diversity of the characters, even if it's a little forced.

I would recommend this book to grades 2-4, especially fans of mystery and natural history. Readalikes might include the Clubhouse Mysteries by Sharon M. Draper or other early chapter book mysteries.

[Elliot]

Genre: children’s mystery
2 LGBTQ side characters: lesbian

Importance of identities to plot: 1/5
Romance: 1/4
Coming out: no

Notes: The lesbian characters are one of the children’s parents. It doesn’t impact the plot at all, just normalizes queer parents for children. :)