Tag: Tween Fiction

Saturday Book Showcase: The Mystery of Shadow Hills

SHADOW HILLS FRONT COVERSkylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills
by Carrie Cross
4.6 star average on 29 reviews
195 pages

Thirteen-year-old sleuth Skylar Robbins plans to become a private detective like her grandfather. Stuck at her bullying cousin Gwendolyn’s Malibu estate for the summer, Skylar brings her detective kit, portable spy tools, and her journal for taking notes in secret code. She had no idea how dangerous the summer would prove to be.

On the first day of summer school an odd classmate named Kat passes a note in backward writing, introducing Skylar to the secret world of witchcraft. Practical Skylar didn’t believe in magic  — until the spells they perform in an abandoned garden actually appear to be working.

When Kat tells her that a mysterious group is doing wicked things up in Shadow Hills at night, she can’t help but investigate. The teen sleuth uses the tools in her detective kit and faces her most embarrassing fear to find the truth.

Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills is available at Amazon.com, iTunes, and Amazon UK. Continue reading “Saturday Book Showcase: The Mystery of Shadow Hills”

Book Brief | Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills

SHADOW HILLS FRONT COVERSkylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills
by Carrie Cross
Genre: Middle Grade, mystery
60,650 words

Thirteen-year-old sleuth Skylar Robbins plans to become a private detective like her grandfather. Stuck at her bullying cousin Gwendolyn’s Malibu estate for the summer, Skylar brings her detective kit, portable spy tools, and her journal for taking notes in secret code. She had no idea how dangerous the summer would prove to be.

On the first day of summer school an odd classmate named Kat passes a note in backward writing, introducing Skylar to the secret world of witchcraft. Practical Skylar didn’t believe in magic  — until the spells they perform in an abandoned garden actually appear to be working.

When Kat tells her that a mysterious group is doing wicked things up in Shadow Hills at night, she can’t help but investigate. The teen sleuth uses the tools in her detective kit and faces her most embarrassing fear to find the truth.

Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills is available at Amazon.com, iTunes, and Amazon UK. Continue reading “Book Brief | Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills”

How Kids Make Books Their Own

Author Jacqueline DooleyGuest post
by Jacqueline Dooley

When I started writing my first book, Doorways to Arkomo, I knew I wanted to reach readers around age 10 through about 13 or 14 – an age where kids still believe in magic (I hope), but are old enough to crave a story with real depth and breadth.

My own experience as a young reader was constantly on my mind. I used to get so obsessed with books that I’d read them again and again. It was kind of personal – the experience of reading and loving a book. But this is an old fashioned notion in today’s world of oversharing.

As an author, I didn’t (at first) fully appreciate how much things have changed for young readers since the days I’d quietly obsessed over my favorite books – graduating from Roald Dahl to Terry Brooks to Stephen King as the eighties turned into the nineties. Continue reading “How Kids Make Books Their Own”