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Coop Knows the Scoop
The whole town is talking about what's buried beneath the playground...
Windy Bottom, Georgia is usually a peaceful place. Coop helps his mom at her café and bookstore, hangs out with his grandpa, and bikes around with his friends Justice and Liberty. The town is full of all kinds of interesting people, but no one has ever caused a problem. Until now.
And somehow, Gramps is taking all the blame! It seems like there are a lot of secrets that were buried in their small town after all...
Will Coop and his friends get to the bottom of the mystery and clear Gramps's name before it's too late?
Windy Bottom, Georgia is usually a peaceful place. Coop helps his mom at her café and bookstore, hangs out with his grandpa, and bikes around with his friends Justice and Liberty. The town is full of all kinds of interesting people, but no one has ever caused a problem. Until now.
And somehow, Gramps is taking all the blame! It seems like there are a lot of secrets that were buried in their small town after all...
Will Coop and his friends get to the bottom of the mystery and clear Gramps's name before it's too late?
304 pages, Paperback
First published July 7, 2020
103 people are currently reading
913 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews
June 27, 2020
I wish there was more diversity in this story. The two children that might not be white (based off their names) are described as smelly and don't speak grammatically correct. I also didn't care for the repetition of "only girls wear dresses" in the beginning of the story. These might be small details to children but to me they speak volumes.
September 11, 2022
8/6/22 Murder mystery in a small southern town. What really happened to the person whose skeleton is found buried at the local playground?
12/30/20 A human skeleton is found at the local playground! Who could it possibly be? That's the first mystery in this story about Coop, his good friends & twins Justice and Liberty and the other townsfolk of Windy Bottom, a small town in Georgia. Finding the answer to the first and subsequent mysteries only leads our protagonists to more questions than answers. Will anyone in the town (Coop & his friends, local law enforcement, etc.) be able to find the answers?
Give this to anyone who likes a good mystery story. Here's hoping Taryn Souders writes another.
12/30/20 A human skeleton is found at the local playground! Who could it possibly be? That's the first mystery in this story about Coop, his good friends & twins Justice and Liberty and the other townsfolk of Windy Bottom, a small town in Georgia. Finding the answer to the first and subsequent mysteries only leads our protagonists to more questions than answers. Will anyone in the town (Coop & his friends, local law enforcement, etc.) be able to find the answers?
Give this to anyone who likes a good mystery story. Here's hoping Taryn Souders writes another.
January 10, 2023
This is the perfect mystery book to recommend to kids who want something more than a missing stuffed animal. Taryn Souders has a way with developing characters that are relatable and easy to connect with. I am also amazed with her craft of setting and plot. You can imagine this gossip town, no doubt, especially with the busy body characters that love a good story and murder mystery.
The story line flows so easily and there was never a time where I wish it were to slow down or speed up. It's one of those books that you cannot put down because you need to keep reading the next page, then eventually the next chapter, but really you have to finish it in one sitting.
Another enjoyable aspect of this middle grade mystery is that it's not one of those books where often an adult reader can pinpoint the who, what, where, when, and why early in the story. I seriously did not catch on until the main character did towards the end of the book. Now that is good writing!
This book will be perfect for upper elementary and middle grade readers. It has quite a bit of humor that makes you laugh real good, so I think kids who are reluctant readers and those who even want more of an "edgier" book will dig into this one easily. This is one of those books where you feel like you need to read it again, so you can pinpoint any clues that connected to the main suspect at the end of the book. One of my favorite 2020 books!
The story line flows so easily and there was never a time where I wish it were to slow down or speed up. It's one of those books that you cannot put down because you need to keep reading the next page, then eventually the next chapter, but really you have to finish it in one sitting.
Another enjoyable aspect of this middle grade mystery is that it's not one of those books where often an adult reader can pinpoint the who, what, where, when, and why early in the story. I seriously did not catch on until the main character did towards the end of the book. Now that is good writing!
This book will be perfect for upper elementary and middle grade readers. It has quite a bit of humor that makes you laugh real good, so I think kids who are reluctant readers and those who even want more of an "edgier" book will dig into this one easily. This is one of those books where you feel like you need to read it again, so you can pinpoint any clues that connected to the main suspect at the end of the book. One of my favorite 2020 books!
February 22, 2021
Not a great book. Felt like the author bought a book of "101 Great Old Time Southern Expressions You'll Love!" and tried to shoe-horn in every single one into the book. Do we really think modern tweens are using colloquialisms about Baptist preachers in their every day speech? For a seemingly simple story, this story packs in a LOT of values. Pro-military, pro-police, multiple characters *including the teacher* openly discuss how dumb one of the characters is, the only female character (aside from the dead one, the mom, and ) won't wear a dress which is posited as strange (the last page says there is "Hope for her" that she might one day wear a dress), the mean boy whose dad is the town drunk has no value to other characters until they find out . Just one of those books that seems very neutral on the surface til you explore a little deeper.
Also weird that this book is set in Georgia, a state where only 51% of the population is white, yet there is no diversity mentioned in the book. I solved the mystery, though, which is neat.
Also weird that this book is set in Georgia, a state where only 51% of the population is white, yet there is no diversity mentioned in the book. I solved the mystery, though, which is neat.
May 3, 2020
This is such a great adventure book! I grew up in a small rural Alabama town similar to the book’s setting. It was a nice nod to some of the more endearing parts of southern culture. About mid-way through the book the story really picks up and is quite the page-turner. I couldn’t put it down after that.
Any kids who love a good mystery will love this book. It’s perfect for upper elementary and middle school readers. I think my favorite part is that it’s a good, clean story without being boring. Books for middle school kids get edgier and edgier these days. There’s becoming a limited amount of books for kids who don’t want edgy books. This book isn’t babyish at all. It has an awesome cover that kids will absolutely pick up off the shelf.
I read a lot of middle school books and very few really impress me. The end of this book leaves me feeling all wonderful inside and like I was given a great gift.
Any kids who love a good mystery will love this book. It’s perfect for upper elementary and middle school readers. I think my favorite part is that it’s a good, clean story without being boring. Books for middle school kids get edgier and edgier these days. There’s becoming a limited amount of books for kids who don’t want edgy books. This book isn’t babyish at all. It has an awesome cover that kids will absolutely pick up off the shelf.
I read a lot of middle school books and very few really impress me. The end of this book leaves me feeling all wonderful inside and like I was given a great gift.
July 7, 2020
Once I started reading Coop Knows the Scoop, I could not put it down and the author had me guessing up until the very end about who the guilty person turned out to be! The characters were likable and relatable, and the plot was well developed. I loved reading about each new clue and the problem-solving that the characters had to do that led them to eventually figuring out what happened to Coop's grandmother all those years ago.
December 30, 2025
Lovvvvvved this book so much!
July 20, 2020
This was a nice mystery for middle grades! I liked that it was a real mystery and not just “who stole the sign?” or something similar. Like another reviewer, I did wish there was more diversity among the characters. I also think that some of the Southernisms would make this a difficult read for lower middle grades or struggling readers - there’s a lot of extremely wordy similes and metaphors that sound like things you would hear in Steel Magnolias. At times I had to pause to reread them to fully catch their meaning.
July 18, 2022
This book is an amazing middle grade read! Taryn Souders did a school visit for our district in the spring of 2022, and all students grades 4th-8th read this book as a whole class read aloud before she came. The kids and teachers loved the book and were so pumped for her visit! A great age appropriate murder mystery that kept the kids guessing until the very end.
dnf
April 12, 2023dnf at 11%
April 30, 2020
One of my favorite middle-grade authors has come out with another book. And each book she writes is better than the last.
Coop is a great detective--lovable kid with a fantastic voice, and his two side kicks are wonderfully drawn. They live and move and have their being in a small southern town that has loads of character itself and also houses many characters.
This contemporary middle-grade mystery is great fun.
Coop is a great detective--lovable kid with a fantastic voice, and his two side kicks are wonderfully drawn. They live and move and have their being in a small southern town that has loads of character itself and also houses many characters.
This contemporary middle-grade mystery is great fun.
March 20, 2021
Think Mayberry meets modern day 21st century. Loved it!
January 17, 2022
Started off kind of slow for me at the beginning but it got so good and a huge twist at the end!
November 13, 2023
“One more reminder that the strongest of hearts may be dragged down by the biggest burdens, the meanest of people often hide the deepest hurts, and the kindest of eyes can disguise the cruelest secrets.”
I enjoyed reading this book with my students because it had me literally yelling in class as the plot twists! I love how this book showed the layers of characters. Just because someone can present themselves to be perceived a certain way does not mean they are innocent!
I understand this book takes place in the South however the constant souther idioms and figurative language were honestly distracting to the flow of writing. I would have also loved to see some more representation written into the description of characters so that kids who come from different backgrounds could connect and relate to the characters better. It was disappointing to also read how one of the female characters is consistently criticized for not wearing dresses like the other girls. What’s up with that? I also struggled with so many characters being referred to by 2-3 different names/titles so much to the point that I, as an adult, was having to list them to keep them all straight. My students struggled with this aspect as well.
I enjoyed reading this book with my students because it had me literally yelling in class as the plot twists! I love how this book showed the layers of characters. Just because someone can present themselves to be perceived a certain way does not mean they are innocent!
I understand this book takes place in the South however the constant souther idioms and figurative language were honestly distracting to the flow of writing. I would have also loved to see some more representation written into the description of characters so that kids who come from different backgrounds could connect and relate to the characters better. It was disappointing to also read how one of the female characters is consistently criticized for not wearing dresses like the other girls. What’s up with that? I also struggled with so many characters being referred to by 2-3 different names/titles so much to the point that I, as an adult, was having to list them to keep them all straight. My students struggled with this aspect as well.
March 22, 2020
This is a murder mystery. The mystery is who killed Coops grandmother, whom everyone assumed just up and ran away from home one day. There are a lot of suspects, but the police seem to be focused on Coop's grandfather.
Coop and his mother only came to the small Georgian town, five years before, so they don't know his grandfather all that well, but he doesn't believe that he could ever murder anyone. So while all the evidence points his way, Coop goes out of his way to find out who really did it.
Intersting, although too much character development for me. I know, I know, we always complain that people are one dimensional, but I really didn't care about some of the secondary characters enough to know that they couldn't spell, or know large words.
Other than that, I have to say I didn't figure out the mystery until just about the time that Coop did.
Also good was how the bully was shown to not be that bad, and actually helped solve the mystery.
Little slow in the beginning, but it finally picked up speed about half way through.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Coop and his mother only came to the small Georgian town, five years before, so they don't know his grandfather all that well, but he doesn't believe that he could ever murder anyone. So while all the evidence points his way, Coop goes out of his way to find out who really did it.
Intersting, although too much character development for me. I know, I know, we always complain that people are one dimensional, but I really didn't care about some of the secondary characters enough to know that they couldn't spell, or know large words.
Other than that, I have to say I didn't figure out the mystery until just about the time that Coop did.
Also good was how the bully was shown to not be that bad, and actually helped solve the mystery.
Little slow in the beginning, but it finally picked up speed about half way through.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
February 4, 2020
I just finished reading the advanced readers copy of Coop Knows the Scoop by Taryn Souders.
Coop Knows the Scoop will be a surefire hit for mystery loving kids. Coop lives with is mom and beloved grandfather in a sleepy town southern town. But, everyone is wide awake when a set of bones is found buried under the town playground. Suddenly everyone is a suspect with Coop's own grandfather is at the top of the list! Coop and his friends team up with their long-time nemesis to solve the crime before his granddad ends up in the pokey. The students at my library love Ms. Souder's other books. I know this is going to join the list of our favorites. (The cover art is pretty cool, too). Recommended for upper elementary / middle grades. I plan to add it to my book list for 5th graders next year.
Coop Knows the Scoop will be a surefire hit for mystery loving kids. Coop lives with is mom and beloved grandfather in a sleepy town southern town. But, everyone is wide awake when a set of bones is found buried under the town playground. Suddenly everyone is a suspect with Coop's own grandfather is at the top of the list! Coop and his friends team up with their long-time nemesis to solve the crime before his granddad ends up in the pokey. The students at my library love Ms. Souder's other books. I know this is going to join the list of our favorites. (The cover art is pretty cool, too). Recommended for upper elementary / middle grades. I plan to add it to my book list for 5th graders next year.
May 28, 2020
As a school librarian, I have been a big fan of Taryn Souders since How to (Almost) Ruin Your Summer, so I was really excited about Coop Knows the Scoop. Thirteen-year-old Coop (short for Cooper) lives in Windy Bottom, Georgia. Nothing much ever happens there until a playground renovation reveals the remains of Coop's grandmother, and Coop's Gramps is taking the blame for murder! In a race against the clock, Coop and his friends, twins Justice and Liberty, need to clear Gramps' name.
Souders keeps the reader engrossed with clever plot twists and quirky townsfolk. Of course, my favorite scenes happened in the bookstore, A Latté Books. I didn't grow up in a small town, but Coop Knows the Scoop drew me right in with all the endearing details and HUMOR! This book is perfect for my middle school students, and I look forward to adding it to my collection.
Souders keeps the reader engrossed with clever plot twists and quirky townsfolk. Of course, my favorite scenes happened in the bookstore, A Latté Books. I didn't grow up in a small town, but Coop Knows the Scoop drew me right in with all the endearing details and HUMOR! This book is perfect for my middle school students, and I look forward to adding it to my collection.
April 20, 2020
What a fun mystery! COOP KNOWS THE SCOOP is a brilliantly plotted MG set in the small southern town of Windy Bottom, Georgia (insert giggles here) where everyone knows everyone ... and a body has just been unearthed beneath the playground.
A body that belongs to Coop's grandma, who supposedly left town decades ago.
It's a chilling, exciting premise, and I loved how Taryn Souders managed to plant suspicion across the most unlikely of suspects. The twist is perfect, and Coop & his friends were a perfect balance of MG'ers and detectives ... it was totally believable how they jumped from one point to another, and Coop's voice was spot-on. The friendship dynamics were great, overall---I especially enjoyed the complicated relationship of Coop and his arch-enemy Beau---though I WAS disappointed in the I'm-not-like-other-girls rhetoric that surrounded one of Coop's only female friends, Liberty. She was fierce & badass, yes, but hating dresses isn't a personality trait. I'm waiting for books to realize that girls can be baseball stars AND rock dresses, and even if traditionally 'girly' stuff isn't your thing, you don't have to act superior about it.
But anyway.
Loved the writing, loved the pace, loved the mystery. I can see this one being popular with all sorts of readers, and I highly recommend it as an addition to school libraries! 4/5.
A body that belongs to Coop's grandma, who supposedly left town decades ago.
It's a chilling, exciting premise, and I loved how Taryn Souders managed to plant suspicion across the most unlikely of suspects. The twist is perfect, and Coop & his friends were a perfect balance of MG'ers and detectives ... it was totally believable how they jumped from one point to another, and Coop's voice was spot-on. The friendship dynamics were great, overall---I especially enjoyed the complicated relationship of Coop and his arch-enemy Beau---though I WAS disappointed in the I'm-not-like-other-girls rhetoric that surrounded one of Coop's only female friends, Liberty. She was fierce & badass, yes, but hating dresses isn't a personality trait. I'm waiting for books to realize that girls can be baseball stars AND rock dresses, and even if traditionally 'girly' stuff isn't your thing, you don't have to act superior about it.
But anyway.
Loved the writing, loved the pace, loved the mystery. I can see this one being popular with all sorts of readers, and I highly recommend it as an addition to school libraries! 4/5.
November 27, 2020
There are plenty of MG mysteries out there, but there aren't a lot of them that involve a dead body and murder. COOP KNOWS THE SCOOP has both. While that may seem a little dark for a children's book, the novel actually strikes the perfect balance between funny and serious. The small-town Southern setting, complete with requisite quirky townsfolk, provides fodder for the former. Coop is a likable hero; his family and friends are also warm, interesting, and sympathetic. As for the plot, it's well-structured, complete with a twist or two that I didn't see coming. While COOP KNOWS THE SCOOP does deal with some shady behavior, it remains upbeat and child-appropriate throughout. I enjoyed the story immensely and found it both engrossing and entertaining.
March 27, 2020
What a fantastic mystery for upper elementary/middle grades. The typical small town where evrybody knows everybody and what they are doing. This is never truer than when there is a murder mystery to solve in Windy Bottom, Georgia. Fingers begin pointing at Coop's grandpa! Coop and his friends are eager to do what they can to leave the coffee shop/bookstore and help gather clues and clear his grandpa's name. Sometimes it is only a matter of listening in and being observant to gather the right clues.
This is sure to be a hit for anybody that loves a good mystery. Highly recommend for grades 3-6.
This is sure to be a hit for anybody that loves a good mystery. Highly recommend for grades 3-6.
June 7, 2020
Coop Knows the Scoop is a true page-turner! A middle-grade mystery that will keep kids on the edge of their seats til the very end. Coop and his friends set out to solve the mystery of the skeleton found buried beneath an old playground. The story is set in a small town in Georgia, and is peppered with Southern slang and quirky characters you will want to be friends with. Hand this to anyone who enjoys a great mystery.
February 2, 2020
Review by Elly:
Fantastic read! I couldn’t put it down. The story pulls you into Coop’s world that has been turned upside down by a murder in his small town! It’s an emotional roller coaster as you follow all the characters and the clues - cheering them on as they unravel the mystery and discover the truth!!
Fantastic read! I couldn’t put it down. The story pulls you into Coop’s world that has been turned upside down by a murder in his small town! It’s an emotional roller coaster as you follow all the characters and the clues - cheering them on as they unravel the mystery and discover the truth!!
February 12, 2020
Love this mystery for middle grades! The suspense had me turning the page as quickly as possible to find the answers to my own questions about who’s skeleton was buried and how it got there. I LOVE a book with a surprise at the end and this book had plenty! Read it yourself or share it with your kids. You won’t regret it!
September 20, 2020
This takes place in August and September in Georgia. The story involves a combined bookstore and cafe, a playground, a missing person, a camera, and a bully. The mystery was interesting, and I thought someone else was guilty. Also, it was nice to have involved parents. I would like to have more of that in fiction.
February 6, 2020
This is a fun mystery with likable characters that have depth. I'm sure kids will enjoy following the clues and will care about Coop and his friends and family. The suspense and the funny, snappy dialogue will keep readers turning pages!
March 22, 2020
ARC Copy...That was some good mystery and who done it in a small town with...it gets kind of risky also when the suspects are all eccentric like the rest of the townspeople. I like also there is multiple plots, and clues going on yet Coop himself never gives up on following a lead most of the time for the sake of his beloved ones.
May 17, 2022
3.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book, and loved the cold case mystery that kept you guessing. Also, when a book's main character's mother owns a coffee shop/bookstore that's called A Latte Books, there's a very good chance I will enjoy it ha!
February 7, 2023
Great small town mystery and a page turner at the end. Really loved these characters and the details laid out pulling me into the case.
March 31, 2023
A good middle grade mystery, also a murder mystery for middle grade. I had my hunches....
May 8, 2023
Read this for a battle of the books at the school I work at. It was cute and kept me engaged.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews