The Case of the Secret Santa

Sweet Valley Kids Super Snoopers #1

by Francine Pascal (Creator), Molly Mia Stewart, Ying-Hwa Hu (Illustrator)

A Holiday Mystery

Identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are members of a mystery-solving group called the Snoopers Club and Jessica has found their first case. She thinks Mr. Kreeger, the new custodian at school, looks just like Santa Claus. She sees him checking over a long list of names. Is it his gift list? Jessica and Elizabeth and the other Snoopers uncover a number of convincing clues. Mr. Kreeger couldn't really be Santa Claus...could he?

Genres: Childrens, Mystery, Juvenile, Christmas

88 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1990

About the author

Francine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.

Reviews

[Pastel Paperback · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Snoopers Club begins (ugh, snooping) and basically, all the kids in class decide to spy on their new janitor who looks suspiciously like Santa Claus.

Weirdly enough, Bailey School Kids did a Santa janitor plot the following year too.

[maja · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didnt read this book, but i wanted to count a story ive read so i Choose this one, because it has a part of the storys name so..
The Storys named snooper…

[Tara Calaby]

Elizabeth, Jessica and their friends decide form a junior detective group—The Snoopers Club—but at first they can’t think of any mysteries to solve. Elizabeth suggests to Jessica that they could find hidden treasure and Jessica suggests looking for their Christmas presents, although most won’t arrive until Santa brings them on Christmas Eve. Elizabeth says that she doesn’t believe in Santa any more, but Jessica is convinced that he’s real.

At school, the twins are sent to the custodian’s office to get a spare key. In the place of the usual custodian, Jim, they find a jolly old man named Chris, who knows Jessica and Elizabeth’s names and has a long list of other names on his desk. Jessica thinks that Chris might really be Santa and the Snoopers Club decides to make the custodian’s true identity their first mystery to solve.

They collect several clues: the new custodian is from Alaska, which is near the North Pole; his full name is Chris Kreeger, which sounds like Kris Kringle; he has a map to plan the route of his next big trip; and he has a Santa suit in his office. The suit, it turns out, is for his job as a department store Santa, but when the kids visit him there, he somehow knows exactly what they want for Christmas without them telling him.

The twins’ parents tell them that Chris isn’t Santa, but Jessica isn’t convinced. Mrs. Otis’s class invite Chris to their Christmas party, where Alice is helping out as class mother. Chris gives out presents to all the children and somehow manages to get the adults just the right gifts, including a box for Alice that looks just like one she desperately wanted as a kid.

Soon after the party, Chris leaves the school as he has a big job coming up. Elizabeth doesn’t know whether she believes in Santa again, but she does know that Chris personified the spirit of Christmas, whether he was Santa or not.

I was utterly fascinated by the way that this book dealt with the Santa question. I was surprised that it actually talked about some children believing in Santa while others were equally certain that he didn’t exist. Would it cause some young readers to question their own beliefs? I don’t know. I do appreciate that it brought the question into things, though, as it’s a far more complex mystery when it isn’t just “is Chris Santa?” but rather an examination of belief.

[Ruvi Perera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jessica and her friends decide to have a detective club and they have a strong ground to believe that their janitor is Santa Claus. Even though the adults and Elizabeth do not believe that the journey show is Santa Claus the story ends with giving us a hint that Santa Claus is real and it's the janitor.

[Nader Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cozy Christmas book to read for sweet valley lovers and holiday Season.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

So cute.

[Kylie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet Valley Kids Super Snooper 1 - The Case of the Secret Santa
Jess, Liz, Lila, Ellen, Todd, Winston, Amy and Eva decide solving mysteries are cool, and they should form a club to do just that. The Snoopers are born! But what mysteries are there that need solving? Jessica meets the new custodian and is convinced he’s the real Santa. She tells the Snoopers but no one is convinced. Liz, Lila and Todd don’t even believe in Santa which is shocking. I hope no kids read this book and came to that shocking conclusion (like I did with Claudias Portrait book 😔). They gather the clues - he looks like Santa, his name is Chris Kreegan, he lived in Alaska, is planning a big trip, knows the raindeers names, and most importantly (IMO) knew what they all wanted for Christmas. He leaves to go do a big job, and we never find out, but I think they’re now all convinced? 🤷🏼‍♀️
My rating - 5/10 - I mean look, the plot was a bit weak, but I love Christmas 🎄
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[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story a lot. Like one of those Christmas specials w/ undercover Santa. I also liked how it was a cliffhanger, kinda to leave it to the reader's imagination, whether they are pro-Santa or anti-Santa.

[Amanda]

I thought this was a cute book. We ran out of my daughter's favorite books (Junie B. Jones), so she decided to try a new series by borrowing this book from her school library. I'm glad she did because my kids adore mysteries and enjoyed every page.

[Sheila Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read so many of these books I can't remember all of them.