Scoop McLaren Detective Editor

by Helen Castles

What do you do when an evil reporter wreaks havoc in a quiet coastal town?
Sonny Fink writes an online newspaper that is uploaded at exactly one minute past midnight every night. The news is always frightfully awful and if Sonny writes it, it's bound to happen!
Thirteen-year-old detective editor Scoop McLaren and her best friend and roving reporter, Evie Andrews, set out on a mission to uncover Sonny Fink's identity and put a stop to the bedlam before Sonny destroys their coastal paradise.

135 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2019

About the author

Helen Castles is a newspaper journalist and children's author.
When she's not chasing up a real-life story, she's writing about the adventures of feisty detective editor, Scoop McLaren.

Reviews

[Michael Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Scoop McLaren Detective Editor with my eight year old son and we both loved the book. Scoop is such a great character, and she is brought to life by Castle's fantastic writing, along with everyone in the wonderful setting of Higgity Harbour. The look of anticipation on my son's face as we turned each page said everything about this book. A great story...looking forward to reading Scoops next adventure.

[Hayley Chow · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 10yo niece just finished this book and absolutely LOVED it. So thrilled to see her excited about reading. And I’m so glad she had a fun story to escape into while school has been out.

And now she’s asking for more!

When Waves of Mystery comes out in October, I will definitely be buying her a copy.

And then I shall be the favorite aunt!! (mwahaha) :-)

[Jenny Glazebrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. So, so clever and fun. The author has a brilliant imagination and a gift with words. I loved the tips from Scoop about how to be a good editor and the way the book encourages children to love reading and writing.
My 10 and 12 year old daughters read this book before me and enjoyed it so much they encouraged me to read it, too.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something strange is happening in the small, coastal town of Higgity Harbor. Every night, at exactly one minute past midnight, a mysterious character named Sonny Fink posts an edition of The Dark Times, a digital newspaper that tells the news before it happens. One disaster after another befalls the people of Higgity Harbor, and Sonny Fink’s true identity remains a secret. Luckily, thirteen-year-old Scoop McLaren is on the case, and she will stop at nothing to raise the mask on the town’s evil journalist. This fun middle grade novel is designed similarly to mystery stories for older readers. The structure is predictable, featuring a number of red herrings before ultimately uncovering the real culprit as the clock counts down the minutes to catastrophe. As the first in its series, this book gives readers a strong sense of who Scoop McLaren is, who her companions are, and what their goals are in their effort to provide top-notch journalism to their community. Brief chapters and ample white space help make the book accessible to a wide range of readers, and anyone interested in mysteries will find this to be an enjoyable adventure. Well-designed and filled with fun and dynamic characters, this book is a positive series starter and will encourage readers to continue with more of Scoop McLaren’s adventures. This book is a good addition to series fiction collections for confident middle grade readers with a love of mystery storytelling.

[Lynsaroo · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have a slightly older detective, they may enjoy this new series! Thirteen-year-old Henley “Scoop” McLaren runs an ⌨️ online newspaper in the shadow of her father's physical town-wide gazette. As if that isn't enough, people come to Scoop to solve their mysteries. She works alongside her best friend, Evie, the sergeant's daughter. The two are out to expose Sonny Fink, an anonymous, evil 🐊 reporter that seems to predict the 🐸 future in his daily articles, no matter how devastating. People are leaving town and choosing the competitors' 📰 news, The Dark Times, over theirs. Can the two girls put an end to the evil-doing editor? Each chapter bounces seamlessly between 🗞️ articles and narrative, and Scoop even shares her expert writing tips with us at the end.

[Johnny Childers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really fun because the evil newspaper publisher makes tragic things happen and the things that he writes about come true and so Scoop and he freind have to find out who the evil publisher is and stop them.

[Alex Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fourth grade reading level book. It is a good book that gets students into thinking about how they would solve a problem. I like the story becuase it correlates to how the author is a real life reporter.

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m 10 years old and I love this series. I’ve read the first two books and they are both really good. All the suspects keep me guessing and I appreciate the tips at the back too. Brilliant series, I really recommend it!

[Sam Schroder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scoop McLaren publishes an online newspaper and solves mysteries. When Sonny Fink starts publishing a rival newspaper that reports the news before it happens, Scoop and her best friend, Evie, are straight on the case. This cute story held my interest from start to finish and will be well liked by 9-12 year old readers.

[Atharv Bagga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a girl called scoop McLaren who is a detective editor. I like this book. I recommend this book for kids of ages 5---12.