Scavenger Hunt Heist

Hardy Boys Clue Book #5

by Franklin W. Dixon, Matt David (Illustrations)

Detective brothers Frank and Joe must solve another intriguing mystery in the fifth book in the interactive Hardy Boys Clue Book series.

Frank and Joe are excited for the class trip to Bayport Bear Park. When they arrive, the entire class is greeted with a beautiful a pile of prizes and goodies in the middle of the room! Their guide, Marnie, explains that they will be split into teams to complete a scavenger hunt through the park. Whoever solves the clues the fastest will win all of the prizes.

But after they come back from solving the first few clues, the entire pile of prizes has been destroyed, with half of the loot completely missing! Can Frank and Joe figure out who the Treat Thief is and save the trip?

Genres: Mystery, Chapter Books

96 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2017

About the author

Franklin W. Dixon is the pen name used by a variety of different authors who were part of a team that wrote The Hardy Boys novels for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (now owned by Simon & Schuster). Dixon was also the writer attributed for the Ted Scott Flying Stories series, published by Grosset & Dunlap.
Canadian author Leslie McFarlane is believed to have written the first sixteen Hardy Boys books, but worked to a detailed plot and character outline for each story. The outlines are believed to have originated with Edward Stratemeyer, with later books outlined by his daughters Edna C. Squier and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Edward and Harriet also edited all books in the series through the mid-1960s. Other writers of the original books include MacFarlane's wife Amy, John Button, Andrew E. Svenson, and Adams herself; most of the outlines were done by Adams and Svenson. A number of other writers and editors were recruited to revise the outlines and update the texts in line with a more modern sensibility, starting in the late 1950s.
The principal author for the Ted Scott books was John W. Duffield.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great setting with the scavenger hunt in the woods (though perhaps not the best role modeling for what to do if you encounter a bear!) My eight-year-old and I really enjoy this series. These are recently published and quite modern but still features Frank and Joe, the detective brothers, from the original Hardy Boys series*. For the most part, the characterization is decent, the plot moves along at a good pace, there’s some humor, the action is just right for kids in this age group, and the mystery is also age-appropriate (in fact, often, it turns out no actual “crime” has been committed so I like that there aren’t a lot of “bady guys” -- but that doesn’t make the mystery any less rich). My main complaint is that I don’t like the repeated inclusion of Adam Ackerman and other “bully” types. It’s clear that they aren’t desirable characters, but I just feel that their rude comments etc. drag the books down at times and don’t really add much aside from an easy scapegoat for almost every crime (of course, Adam Ackerman must have done it!) But, fortunately, these episodes are brief and on the whole the stories are full of positive character interactions. I also wish that the illustrations showed more diversity among the characters – even side characters are often white -- hopefully this will be remedied in future books as it appears the series is still being published. Still, as a whole, these are great mysteries for young readers and I really like how it teaches the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How (even goes into alibis sometimes) it is great for critical thinking skills and the red herrings are all well done with plausible motives.
*Note that there are several Hardy Boys incarnations, the Clue Book series appears well suited for 7-9 year olds, I can't speak to the others.

[Avnish Bhat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read this book as part of my summer reading. I was really excited to see this book in the library and really wanted to read it.
Here is the summary of this book:
There were 2 boys named Joe Hardy and Frank Hardy.
These boys wanted to find clues when the boys went on a field trip.
There was this girl with pink lipstick,
2 pigtails, and mustard color shoes.
They went on a scavenger hunt and then the pinata went missing.
they grabbed their notebook out and then they wrote why the criminal did it and who he was and why they did it.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Birthday Book #41 from my friend Pat. A "pre-canon" series featuring the elementary aged Frank and Joe Hardy solving mysteries. This one involved both a fun scavenger hunt at a local park and a stolen piñata that was offered as a prize for the winning scavenger hunt team. I really cute book for young readers.

[Ishaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is actually One of my favourites. The thing I liked was the last part of the book when they solve the mystery！ it was really funny. The part where they find lots of scrap paper and are completely confused is also very interesting

[Adhit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bacanya cukup sekali duduk!

Ceritanya simple, khas anak-anak. Joe dan Frank ke acara Scavengers hunt di Bear park, kemudian tiba-tiba hadiahnya menghilang, jadi sambil mencari harta karun joe, frank, lily dan phil mencari petunjuk kasus juga.

Overall 3 of 5 stars

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fn adventures of young detectives Joe & Frank Hardy

[Excel · Rating 4 out of 5]

good