says

“Riley scooched through a hole he knew about in the fence and carefully headed toward Mr. Jenkins’s elevated back porch. It was made of concrete and free of snow, shielded by an angled aluminum awning overhead. As he moved closer, Riley could see the tops of a pair of tan boots peeking out of a wooden crate pushed into a corner where the porch’s railings met the house’s brick wall.”
― Chris Grabenstein, Super Puzzletastic Mysteries: Short Stories for Young Sleuths from Mystery Writers of America

“Frowning in concentration, the three of them looked closer. Suddenly, the image came into much sharper focus. Brian stood in an old-fashioned basement, one with a high-bricked ceiling and an earthen floor. In an instant Min knew exactly where he was filming, because everybody knew about the most haunted house in Indiana, especially Min, who lived two short blocks away. She’d grown up hearing the stories: ghost children who ran through hallways, throwing pebbles—three at a time—at anyone who dared to come inside. Whispers of a man who haunted its empty windows, his withered skin as white as bone. Tattered curtains moved by the curl of a skeletal finger. Everyone called that house the Scary Place.”
― Chris Grabenstein, Super Puzzletastic Mysteries: Short Stories for Young Sleuths from Mystery Writers of America

“Riley put on his snow boots and coat and trudged across the ballfields to the scene of the “crime.” The edges of the FART letters were crusting over with ice. Riley wondered why Mr. Ball hadn’t sent out the custodians to plow away or cover up the word. Probably because it was on Old Man Jenkins’s property, not the school’s.”
― Chris Grabenstein, Super Puzzletastic Mysteries: Short Stories for Young Sleuths from Mystery Writers of America

“Lame.” Jayid Kafir yawned, not even looking up from a map of glowing stars. He was stocky, with ears that stood out from his head like large seashells. Jayid was the one who geeked out over everything in the night sky. He always wore tee shirts with a different planet on the front. Today it was Mars.”
― Chris Grabenstein, Super Puzzletastic Mysteries: Short Stories for Young Sleuths from Mystery Writers of America