The Case of the Soldier's Ghost

Museum Mysteries

by Steve Brezenoff, Lisa K. Weber (Illustrator)

A ghost has been spotted lurking around Capitol City's American History Museum. It seems someone or something is unhappy with the museum's recent exhibit on the Vietnam War. Can Raining Sam, the son of the head of educational programs at the museum, and his friends figure out who's behind the haunting before someone gets hurt?

Genres: Mystery, Childrens

128 pages, Library Binding

First published July 31, 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

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Capital City's American History Museum had recently added an exhibit on the Vietnam War and not everyone seems to be happy about the new exhibit. In addition, there seems to be a ghost haunting the museum. Raining Sam, the son of the head of Education Programs at the museum, and his friends begin investigating, trying to find the ghost and stop the haunting before someone gets hurt.

This was a cute story and is similar to a Scooby-Doo-type investigation. There are just as many hijinks, and the kids certainly run into a few roadblocks along the way. But it was a fun listen. The author definitely knows how to tell a good story; I hope I can find more of his books or novellas to read/listen to.

The only complaint I have about the audiobook is that there are places where there is a pause for several seconds of dead air. Sometimes it was at the end of a scene, but just as often it was in the middle of a sentence, which made for an odd listen around those points. I'm not sure if those pauses were meant to be added in between the chapters and someone just got the timing way off or not, but it was strange. Even so, it was only a minor issue in the overall story.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This was a fairly weak ending to the series. The solution didn't make a lot of sense, and I thought the author glossed over the issues with the Vietnam War (and subsequent American military engagements) in favor of a heavy-handed pro-veterans message. The rest of it was par for the course, as far as action scenes and a driving mystery, but it was odd that the kids were content to give up the search at the end.

I'm fine with the series being over now. There were aspects of it I liked, but the solutions started to make less and less sense, and several of the books provided examples of why a white male author shouldn't write characters of different races and genders without extensive research and sensitivity readers (not to mention there are some plot lines — like brutal racism and Islamaphobia ending in a simplistic redemption arc — that aren't ideal for outsiders to write). I appreciate more diversity in kids' books, but it needs to go beyond surface level.

[Monica Hocking · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me liked this book for several reasons! It close to Halloween, so good time for mystery. Also with the NFL controversy over the flag, me think this story gives you chance to reflect on what our flag stands for! This group of friends who are lucky enough to get to spend extra time at museums, stumble on a mystery and what they learn along the way will hopefully give them new and lasting respect for others!

[Karen Broughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

lovely story enjoyed another gentle read involving a great group of characters. really feel like i am getting to know the four main children, Raining, Wilson, Clementine and Amal they are all very different in thier personalities, together they make a lovely friendship group. I am enjoying seeing how they grow, there loyalty to each other and to thier museums too. hopefully many more to come. I am sure this group of friends have many more mysteries to uncover. On to the next one now.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narration had strange pauses that just would suddenly kick in and leave you thinking that the book had ended or that your connection went out. The voice of the narrator was nice, but didn’t have much variation. The story itself was a straightforward children’s story with nicely settled ending.

[Jennybeast · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a better story -- I still wish they wouldn't wander around accusing people without catching them in the act, but I appreciate the pro-veterans message.