Rebecca
Farac
English
112B
Annotated
Bibliography
Young
Adult Mystery Novels
Mystery Novels
Mystery
novels are found in the Adventure, Sports, and Supernatural chapter in Literature
for Today�s Young Adults. Mysteries are very popular among young adults because
of the entertaining plot as well as the �sometimes easy reading level�;
however, I believe that this genre is popular due to the suspense and adventure
that one experiences while reading a mystery novel (69).
The mystery genre has always fascinated
and thrilled me, which is the main reason I chose to do a bibliography on teen
mystery novels. These novels appeal to many readers because of the excitement
and suspenseful feeling when being read. Murder, detectives, kidnappings, and
gore are the major themes mystery novels contain. According to Donelson and
Nilsen, mysteries contain a part of game or puzzle, therefore this attracts
readers because of the entertainment and involvement they provide (69). Young
adults enjoy feeling like the detective and they want to solve the mystery from
inside.
Although
I love this genre, I had a difficult time finding books I had read. As a
result, I instead chose books that sounded interesting to me and that I would
like to read on my spare time. I went to the library as well as used the
Internet to look up young adult mysteries and luckily I found many interesting
novels to choose from. I think these books will interest young adults and
persuade them to read a �fun� book for pleasure.
Avi,
The Wolf Rider: A Tale of Terror. New York: Bradbury Press, 1986.
Andy gets a
murderous phone-call. But no one believes he's telling the truth. Determined to
prove that the call was real, he seeks the caller, and--courting
disaster--finds him. Booklist:"Sizzles with suspense." ALA: One of
the best YA's of the past 25 years.
Summary taken
from: Avi. Homepage. 2006. 25, Nov. 2006 <http://www.avi-writer.com/mystery.html>
Bowler,
Tim. Storm Catchers. New York: Margaret K. McElderry, 2003.
The
kidnap shocks the whole family. Poor frightened Ella, snatched away from the
house in the middle of a storm. Fin will never forgive himself for leaving her
on her own. Still, at least they'll get her back when they've paid the money.
But the kidnapper has more than just money on his mind. And as his plans
unfold, all the members of the family are forced to confront their deepest,
darkest secrets. A storm is breaking, and it's going to change everything...
Summary
taken by: Bowler, Tim. Storm Catchers. 2004. 25 Nov. 2006 <http://www.timbowler.co.uk/stormcatchers.html>
Christie,
Agatha. And Then There Were
None. New York: G.P. Putnam's,
1989.
Considered the
best mystery novel ever written by many readers, And Then There Were None is the story of 10 strangers, each lured
to Indian Island by a mysterious host. Once his guests have arrived, the host
accuses each person of murder. Unable to leave the island, the guests begin to
share their darkest secrets--until they begin to die.
Summary taken
by: �And then there were none�. Amazon.com. 2006. 18 Nov. 2006
<http://www.amazon.com/Then-There-Were-None/dp/0312330871/ref=pd_ybh_a_9/105-5761735-4164468>
Cormier,
Robert. The Rag and Bone Shop. New York: Delacorte Press, 2001.
Twelve-year old
Jason is accused of the brutal murder of a young girl. Is he innocent or
guilty? The shocked town calls on an interrogator with a stellar reputation: he
always gets a confession. The confrontation between Jason and his interrogator
forms the chilling climax of this terrifying look at what can happen when the
pursuit of justice becomes a personal crusade for victory at any cost.
Summary taken
by: � The Rag and Bone Shop�. TeenReads.com.
2006. Laurel Leaf. 19 Nov. 2006. <
http://www.teenreads.com/guides/rag_bone_shop1.asp >
Duncan,
Lois. They Never Came Home. New York: Dell, 1990.
They
couldn't have just disappeared! Or could they?
That's
the way it looks when Dan and Larry don't return from a weekend camping trip in
the mountains. Then Joan, Larry's sister, gets a mysterious call from a man who
says Larry owes him a lot of money. Where could her brother be?
Can Joan, with
the help of Dan's brother Frank, find Dan and Larry? Or are the two destined
never to return?
Summary taken
by: �They Never Came Home�. Amazon.com. 2006. 18 Nov. 2006.
For her
birthday, Vicky receives the gift of a trip to the Antarctic, where her friend
Adam Eddington is working as a marine biologist. But as Vicky meets her fellow
travelers, it quickly becomes clear that some of them are not what they seem.
Vicki's trip into adventure becomes a journey into icy danger.
Summary taken
from: L�Engle, Madeline. �Troubling a Star�. Madeline L�Engle. 200.
Crosswicks, Ltd. 25 Nov. 2006.
<http://www.madeleinelengle.com/books/troublingAStar.htm>
Nixon, Joan
Lowery. The Other Side of Darkness. New York. Delacorte, 1986.
Stacy, 17,
awakens from the coma she's been in for four years, following a gunshot wound,
and finds her world is drastically altered. The shooting incident that injured
her also killed her mother. Her older sister is married and pregnant.
Hairstyles, clothing and friends have changed. Stacy, if her memory returns,
can put the man who shot her and murdered her mother behind bars. Soon every
face she sees looks both familiar and strange, and the attention of a boy named
Jeff is welcomed and feared. Because of press reports, the murderer knows that
Stacy can find him. She's afraid she's being watched. And when her memory and
the truth about the killer come back to her, Stacy faces the darker side of
herself.
Summary taken
from: �The Other Side of Darkness�. Amazon.com. 2006. 18 Nov. 2006.
Plum-Ucchi,
Carol. The Night my Sister went Missing. New York: Harcourt Children's Books, 2006.
A tiny pistol,
passed from friend to friend at a party on an abandoned pier, suddenly fires,
and Casey Carmody falls into the water below. Kurt, Casey's older brother,
endures a seemingly endless night at the police station while the coast guard
searches for his sister and his friends are questioned,
one by one.
Summary taken
from: Alessio, Amy. �The Night my Sister Went Missing�. Teenreads.com.
19 Nov. 2006. <http://www.teenreads.com/>
Werlin,
Nancy. Black Mirror. New York: Speak Books, 2003.
Frances
Leventhal refuses to look in the mirror; she can't bear to face her reflection.
She has hidden from herself and everyone around her for such a long time, and
now that her brother Daniel has committed suicide, she can't help thinking that
it's somehow her fault. If she hadn't been so caught up in her own pain, maybe
she would have noticed her brother's. It's time to stop hiding�to reach out to
Daniel's friends at their private school. Daniel had been deeply involved in
Unity Service, the charitable group on campus, and Frances is determined to
join the group and to make amends.
But something's
not quite right about Unity, and soon Frances finds herself in the middle of a
puzzle too ominous to ignore. Exactly what are the Unity members trying so hard
to hide? And why does no one else on campus, adult or teen, seem suspicious of
them? This time Frances won't scurry away to hide. The memory of her brother is
at stake.
Summary
taken from: Werlin, Nancy. �Black Mirror�. Nancy Werlin. 2006. 19, Nov.
2006. <http://www.nancywerlin.com/mirror.htm>
Werlin,
Nancy. The Killer's Cousin.
New York: Laurel-Leaf Books, 2000.
Recently
acquitted of murder, seventeen-year-old David has moved to Massachusetts to
complete his senior year of high school. His aunt and uncle have offered him
shelter�escape from the media's questions and from the uncertain glances of his
neighbors and ex-friends.
His
attic apartment doesn't feel much like a shelter, though. He sees ghostly
shadows at night, his aunt is strangely cold, and his eleven-year-old cousin,
Lily, is downright hostile. And as Lily's behavior becomes more and more
threatening, David can't help wondering why. What ugly secrets lurk within the
walls of Lily's home?
There's one
thing David knows with certainty. The more he learns about his cousin Lily, the
harder it is to avoid thinking about his own past.
Summary taken
from: Werlin, Nancy. �The Killer�s Cousin�. Nancy Werlin. 2006. 19, Nov.
2006. < http://www.nancywerlin.com/tkc.htm>
Donnelson,
Kenneth L. and Alleen Pace Nilsen. Literature for the young Adult.
Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2006.