Mysteries for Grades 7–12

Abrahams, Peter. Behind the Curtain. (2006)—An avid Sherlock Holmes fan, eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill is kidnapped while investigating mysterious happenings in her home town.

Abrahams, Peter. Down the Rabbit Hole. (2005)—Thirteen-year-old soccer player and aspiring actress Ingrid Levin-Hill of Echo Falls is pulled into solving one of the small town’s most mysterious crimes when she forgets her red Puma soccer cleats at the home of local eccentric, “Cracked-Up Kate.”

Carter. Ally. I’d Tell You I Love You, but Then I’d Have to Kill You. (2006)—As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission.

Carter, Ally. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy. (2007)—Cammie Morgan is a CIA legacy and attends the premier school in the world...for spies. The school hosts some mysterious guests with the code name Blackthorne. When Cammie is blamed for a security breach that threatens to expose the school's top secret status, she and her friends face danger to clear Cammie's name and learn the truth about Blackthorne.

Christie, Agatha. And Then There Were None. (2001)—Ten guests are invited to share the weekend on a private island. One by one the guests are dying. Which one is the killer? Will anyone leave the island alive?

Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl. The Opal Deception. (2005)—Criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl has no memory of the fairy people and his dangerous enemy, Opal Koboi escapes from jail and is planning revenge.

Cooney, Caroline B. The Face on the Milk Carton. (1990)—A photograph of a missing girl on a milk carton leads Janie on a search for her real identity.

Cooney, Caroline B. Whatever Happened to Janie? (1993)—The members of two families have their lives disrupted when a teenage girl who had been kidnapped twelve years earlier discovers that the people who raised her are not her biological parents. Sequel to "The Face on the Milk Carton."

Cooney, Caroline B. Code Orange. (2005)—While conducting research for a school paper on smallpox, Mitty finds an envelope containing 100-year-old smallpox scabs and fears that he has infected himself and all of New York City.

Donnelly, Jennifer. A Northern Light. (2003)—In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiance, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story.

Dowell, Frances O'Roark. Dovey Coe. (2000)—When accused of murder in her North Carolina mountain town in 1928, Dovey Coe, a strong-willed twelve-year-old girl, comes to a new understanding of others, including her deaf brother.

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles.—When two members of the Baskerville family die, Sherlock Holmes investigates and finds murderous greed behind a supposed family curse.

Duncan, Lois. Killing Mr. Griffin. (1978)—A teenager casually suggests playing a cruel trick on the English teacher, but did he intend it to end with murder?

Duncan, Lois. I Know What You Did Last Summer. (1999)—High school senior Julie discovers that she has been accepted into a prestigious East Coast college, but in the same mail came cryptic message 'I know what you did last summer'.

Feinstein, John. Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery (2005)—A junior high sports fan wins a sportswriters’ award and gets a press pass and insider’s view of all the action at the NCAA playoffs. What happens off the court is much more sinister than he bargains for.

Feinstein, John. Vanishing Point. (2006)—Eighth-grade sports reporters Susan Carol and Stevie reunite at the U.S. Open tennis championships where they investigate the mysterious disappearance of a top Russian player.

Ferguson, Alane. The Christopher Killer: A Forensic Mystery. (2006)—Cammryn wants to be an expert at solving crimes using science as a tool. When her friend is murdered, she mixes lab work with intuition and guts to find a killer.

Giles, Gail. Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters. (2003)—Fourteen-year-old Sunny is stunned when a total stranger shows up at her house posing as her older sister Jazz, who supposedly died out of town in a fire months earlier.

Giles, Gail. What Happened to Cass McBride. (2006)—After his younger brother commits suicide, Kyle Kirby decides to exact revenge on the person he holds responsible.

Henderson, Lauren. Kiss Me, Kill Me. (2008)—Longing to be part of the in-crowd at her exclusive London school, orphaned, sixteen-year-old Scarlett, a trained gymnast, eagerly accepts an invitation to a party whose disastrous outcome changes her life forever.

Hoobler, Dorothy & Thomas. The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn. (2001)—While attempting to solve the mystery of a stolen jewel, Seikei, a merchant’s son who longs to be a samurai, joins a group of kabuki actors in eighteenth Japan.

Horowitz, Anthony. Stormbreaker. (2001)—After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's intelligence agency, MI6.

Horowitz, Anthony. Point Blank. (2001)—Fourteen-year-old Alex continues his work as a spy for the British MI6, investigating an exclusive school for boys in the French Alps.

Jaffe, Michele. Bad Kitty. (2006)—While vacationing with her family in Las Vegas, seventeen-year-old Jasmine stumbles upon a murder mystery that she attempts to solve with the help of her friends, recently arrived from California.

Lisle, Janet Taylor. Black Duck. (2006)—Years afterwards, Ruben Hart tells the story of how, in 1929 Newport, Rhode Island, his family and his best friend's family were caught up in the violent competition among groups trying to control the local rum-smuggling trade.

Pearson, Ridley. The Kingdom Keepers. (2005)—Thirteen-year-old Finn Whitman and four other young teens have been transformed into holgorams to be guides for visitors to Disney World. When Finn is unexpectedly transported to the Magic Kingdom in his hologram form, Wayne, an Imagineer, tells him that he and the other guides must save the park from the scheming witch Maleficent and the Overtakers.

Plum-Ucci, Carol. The Body of Christopher Creed. (2000)—Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.

Plum-Ucci, Carol. What Happened to Lani Garver. (2002)—Sixteen-year-old Claire is unable to face her fears about a recurrence of her leukemia, her eating disorder, her need to fit in with the popular crowd on Hackett Island, and her mother's alcoholism until the enigmatic Lani Garver helps her get control of her life at the risk of his own.

Portman, Frank. King Dork. (2006)—High school loser Tom Henderson discovers that "The Catcher in the Rye" may hold the clues to the many mysteries in his life.

Pullman, Philip. The Tiger in the Well. (1990)—In London in 1881, twenty-four-year-old Sally finds her young daughter and her possessions assailed by an unknown enemy, while a shadowy figure known as the Tzaddik involves her in his plot to defraud and exploit the hordes of Jewish immigrants pouring into the country.

Pullman, Philip. Shadow in the North. (1988)—In 1878 in London, Sally, now twenty-two and established in her own business, and her companions Frederick and Jim try to solve the mystery surrounding the unexpected collapse of a shipping firm and its ties to a sinister corporation called North Star.

Qualey, Marsha. Close to a Killer. (1999)—After serving time for manslaughter, Barrie’s mom has started a hair salon employing ex-cons like herself. Business is booming—until two customers meet their ends under mysterious circumstances.

Raskin Ellen. The Westing Game (1978)—Eccentric millionaire Samuel Westing has arranged for a very strange game to be played after his death. Whoever wins may be the one to inherit his huge fortune.

Shulman, Polly. Enthusiasm. (2006)—Julie and Ashleigh, high school sophomores and Jane Austen fans, seem to fall for the same Mr. Darcy-like boy and struggle to hide their true feelings from one another while rehearsing for a school musical.

Shusterman, Neal. Unwind. (2007)—In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save their own lives.

Simmons, Michael. Finding Lubchenko. (2005)—When his father is framed for murder and bioterrorism, high-school junior Evan, using clues from a stolen laptop, travels from Seattle to Paris with two friends to find the real culprit.

Stolarz, Laurie Faria. Silver Is for Secrets. (2005)—During a summer vacation at the beach with friends, eighteen-year-old hereditary witch Stacey has more nightmares which involve Clara, a new girl with a talent for causing trouble.

Van Draanen, Wendelin. Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man. (1998)—On Halloween night, seventh grader Sammy stumbles onto a mystery involving a twenty-year-old family feud and some heirlooms stolen by a man in a skeleton costume.

Werlin, Nancy. The Killer’s Cousin. (1998)—After being acquitted of murder, seventeen-year-old David goes to stay with relatives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he finds himself forced to face his past as he learns more about his strange young cousin Lily.