Tajemnica Scarlett

by Fleur Hitchcock, Olga Szlachciuk (Translator)

Scarlett myślała, że jej tata był złodziejem, ale kilka lat po jego śmierci nieznajomy mężczyzna zjawia się w drzwiach i podaje jej tajemnicze pudełko. Wewnątrz znajdują się osobiste przedmioty ojca dziewczyny, które mogą być wskazówkami do odkrycia jego sekretnego życia. Scarlett wraz ze swoją przyjaciółką Ellie wyrusza w momentami zabawną, a czasem przerażającą podróż w poszukiwaniu dalszych wskazówek i przede wszystkim odpowiedzi na nurtujące ją pytania. Czy jej ojciec był złodziejem? A może szpiegiem? Im więcej Scarlett i Ellie się dowiadują, w tym większym są niebezpieczeństwie.

Genres: Mystery, Middle Grade, Fiction, Crime, Contemporary, Childrens

264 pages, Hardcover

First published February 7, 2013

About the author

Born in Chobham, by an airfield, and raised in Winchester on the banks of the River Itchen, Fleur Hitchcock grew up as the youngest child of three. When she was eight, she wrote a story about an alien and a jelly. It was called THE ALIEN AND THE JELLY and filled four exercise books. She grew up a little, went away to school near Farnham, studied English in Wales, and, for the next twenty years, sold Applied Art in the city of Bath. When her younger child was seven, she embarked on the Writing for Young People MA at Bath Spa and graduated with a distinction. Now living outside Bath, between parenting and writing, Fleur Hitchcock works with her husband (a toy maker), looks after other people's gardens and grows vegetables.

Reviews

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I come across books I had never heard of. I don't doubt that I'm late to a party that's already going for a while, considering the amount of books Fleur Hitchcock wrote, but I found her books while scrolling through an online bookstore. I can't even remember why I decided to get the books. It must be a combination of the nice covers and the promise of nice middle grade whodunnits for beginners. Since I'm not that brave. This sounded perfect!

This book was quite amusing and entertaining. Since I was a little tired, it was absolutely perfect that the font was quite big and that the book was a fast read. But, despite the fact that it's a middle grade, I still learned quite a few new words while reading this book, due to the unique setting and the adventures our leading ladies, Scarlett and Ellie are having. Because I guess that's what it truly is. A typical, nice, middle grade adventure.

That's mostly because the plot is the perfect mix between dangerous and exciting. There are moments our girls really have to be clever to get something done or to escape bad people and it's exactly because the villains seem so human and nice that it eventually feels really dangerous. But in between the danger there is enough time for some exciting discoveries, some heated discussions and some lovely glimpses into the daily lives of our main girls.

I also really enjoyed watching the main girls trying to figure all this out. Especially because they quite clearly stayed 11-year olds. They weren't all of a sudden very good at being detectives. They didn't all of a sudden know how to fight or scheme or plot or run away. They had issues understanding the clues and they messed up often. It was quite nice to have kids solving an issue without turning them into superspies. They were still very much kids.

I'm excited to read the other books too!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scarlett's father was a burglar and a thief, at least that's what she's always been told. Five years ago he died, but he left her something: A box to be delivered to her after her eleventh birthday, containing a curious assortment of items including his lockpicks, a book, bundles of letters and photos and a mysterious message. Together with her friend Ellie, Scarlett embarks on a wild scavenger hunt trying to follow the strange clues her father left her and discovering that what she thinks she knows about him isn't the whole story in the process.

An adorable, fun adventure read that I would have loved at the age it's actually intended for and still enjoyed tremendously at the advanced age of 29.

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleven year old Scarlett lives with her mum and toddler half brother Syd. Scarlett is reminded almost daily by a vindictive teacher, that her Dad was a jewel thief and spent time in prison. But when her Dad’s solicitor arrives with a strange package, Scarlett discovers there is more to her Dad than she has been told.
But another rumour about missing diamonds has brought danger to Scarlett and her family, and as she tries to decipher the clues her dad has left her, the threat becomes closer and closer.

Each chapter begins with a black cat in a tree. Scarlett’s cat is called Houdini and much of the story is about mystery and escape. Scarlett is a funny, loveable character and girl readers will relate to her daily trials. Great story.

[Immy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Scarlett is about a girl called Scarlett who finds herself now information about her late dad. The main characters are Scarlett, her mum, herfriend Ellie, Ellie's dad and two mysterious acquaintances driving a black limo. I would have rated it a 4.5 but if I had to choose between 4 stats or 5 then I would pick 5. I would highly recommend it for anyone of 9 years and over.

[Ellie Barford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scarlett thinks her dad is a burglar; well that’s what she thought. She does things that she thinks her dad would have done but when she gets told the truth it’s all wrong.

[Ingrid Fasquelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scarlett mène l'enquête est un roman junior pétillant, plein de bonne humeur et de fantaisie, dans lequel le jeune lecteur, à partir de 9 ou 10 ans, pourra exercer ses talents de détective.

Scarlett est une jeune adolescente de onze ans attachante et pleine de vie. Elle entraîne le lecteur à sa suite dans un jeu de piste passionnant à l'issue duquel se trouve peut-être la clé du mystère qui entoure la vie de son père disparu...

Grâce à une écriture contemporaine, Fleur Hitchcock aborde des sujets actuels, parfois graves (comme le deuil, la perte d'un parent) avec un style réaliste et plein d'humour. Elle témoigne d'une grande affinité avec les sentiments des jeunes adolescents, notamment de ceux qui sont en marge de la société. Chacune à leur façon, Ellie et Scarlett sont elles aussi toutes deux marginalisées. Elles souffrent des moqueries et des préjugés de leur entourage, qu'il soit question de leur apparence ou de leur situation familiale. Incomprises, souvent moquées et rabrouées, Ellie et Scarlett n'en sont pas moins des héroïnes attachantes et généreuses, qui font preuve pour leur âge d'une lucidité et d'une intelligence étonnantes !

Drôles, enjouées, courageuses et un brin effrontées, ces deux détectives en herbe ont un cœur d'or qui les pousse parfois à se fourrer dans les pires situations ! Leur enquête rocambolesque, menée tambour battant, les entraîne dans des aventures pleines de danger mais aussi et surtout, dans des péripéties qui ne manquent pas de déclencher l'hilarité !

Scarlett mène l'enquête est un roman à la fois drôle et émouvant, qui assure aux lecteurs une évasion et un divertissement total. Grâce à ce titre pétillant, plein d'émotion, de vérité et d'humour, Fleur Hitchcock, que certains comparent déjà à Jacqueline Wilson, se pose en nouvelle voix de la littérature jeunesse. Sa jeune Scarlett est peut-être une nouvelle héroïne à suivre, qui sait ?!

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Scarlett by Fleur Hitchcock - this is part of Hong Kong Battle of the Books so I wanted to set aside time to read it asap. Happy to encounter the mystery. Appreciate the formatting and also title headings. Funny how much I fall for names on the titles. Enjoyed this book but I did have a deja vu moment at the beginning of reading the book… reminded me so much of Jeremy Fink and The Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass: Just before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a keyless locked box–set aside by his father before his death five years earlier–that purportedly contains the meaning of life. There are quite the dramatic events throughout the books! I couldn’t believe I was reading a few times and also thought this book is a really good example for students of what happens when you take action instead of first thinking through… Also, there are many fascinating elements that add up to a lovely tied up tight conclusion. I was quite surprised by some of the teacher interactions and also how much Scarlett was able to do in a short span of time… but loved reading this book!

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

awful. really boring, with a cliche plot. urgh.

[Karen Ullman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for age 11 readers. Fast pace and great mystery.

[magda · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 ꙳
i was reading by force, it was not addictive.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fleur Hitchcock has done an amazing job writing this book because it is the perfect introduction to young people enjoying the genre, crime.
Every single character throughout had in depth details about them and weren't following stereotypical traits; not basic or average. In middle grade books (a lot of the time) the author completely bases the book on good guy, bad guy but Hitchcock made Scarlett both a love/hate character. This is because she is absolutely horrid to her supposed friend Elle and although she saves the day and becomes extraordinary she was mean. Anyway, I enjoyed the fact that in a middle grade book the main child character can also be mean but for some reason it made her a better character, made her more interesting. I was hooked.

The only thing I can complain about is that Scarlett was extremely wise and uncovered a lot of things that the average 11 year old would figure out. I just thought for me personally I could relate more to Scarlett if she was 12-13. This does not ruin the book at all and I highly recommend this book.
I am on my second Fleur Hitchcock book called Murder at Twilight and I am gripped already.

[Elephants · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a mysterious book about a girl called Scarlet who is trying to find out more about her dad. She wants to be like her dad so she dose some rather weird things

Her dad has given her some strange things to which helps Scarlet to discover more about him.

I did like this book quite a lot but it wasn’t great or Amazing but I still recommend it because lots of people I think would’ve loved it.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I liked this book because you think you can guess what happens then it completely changes. All the characters had distinct characters that stayed that way throughout the entire book which doesn't happen much. I would describe this book as a lifestyle/adventure book. There weren't any pictures but I am not sure that this book needed any. I recommend this book for children aged 9-12.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely, funny story - quite quirky - which I love. It’s about a girl who gets a parcel from her dad six years after his death, which starts her off on an adventure. Scarlett has a big heart and the book’s themes include love and loss, right and wrong, goodness and selfishness.
I’m going to pass my copy to my cousin’s daughters who I think will love Scarlett, a fearless and courageous hero.

[Kemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fleur Hitchcock has a talent for getting me enthralled in middle grade novels. Murder at Twilight was better (the writing was stellar!) but this was super nice too. well paced , with the right amounts of fun and dread. Loved it

[Daniz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really slow…. But you just have to push through it since it will lead up to be amazing.
the beginning was adding extra information that I could otherwise skip and not miss anything ; and was totally expected .however loved all the suspense the characters and the plot in it

[A🍂 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book, Scarlett is a fun clever girl.
It is one of those books that makes you think and laugh at the same time.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy likeable read.
A good young adult book !

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lent to me by one of the lovely girls I teach. It was a nice, touching adventure story. Nothing to set the world alight but a decent children's book.

[Ali George · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, fun adventure story.

[Olivia Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book quite interesting and a good read I think for me there was parts of it which I felt like putting the book down but overall I would recommend it

[Martynka :* · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5

[Matylda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ta książka była zaskakująco dobra!
To połączenie kryminału i przygodówki, polecam młodszym czytelnikom od 9 lat ❤️

[Vicki Edmunds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great ks3 crime/ mystery/ thriller. Set in UK, great for future Agatha Christie readers.

[:3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick book, i liked it

[Patrycja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mega mi się podoba

[PM · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Especially enjoyable for a tween or new teenager, and still works is you're older.

[Jennifer Plested · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun read, with great characters and something a bit different from the norm.

[Mrs Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a really enjoyable read. It was great to see the friendship develop while they went on this mystery search. I just felt the ending was a little rushed, but overall a great book.

[Monica M · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times it felt a little slow but it pick up the pace once they start trying to solve the puzzle.
It's a bittersweet read regarding her dad. Kind of tragic and unfair imo.