Readers of all ages love to be transported from everyday life, and a good mystery story is the perfect escape. In this limited space, though, I can't even begin to introduce authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. But hopefully today's five sites will teach you a bit about this popular genre, and either introduce you to an new author or reacquaint you with one you've long ignored.
"Are you new to the mystery genre? Feeling lost when your friends start talking about their favorite mysteries? No need to worry, we can help you familiarize yourself with the territory." The Mystery Books guide at About.com explains basic forensics, police procedures and everything you wanted to know about real PI's (private investigators.) On the left hand menu, you'll also find links to articles on juvenile mysteries and teacher resources.
TheCase.com for Kids brings you "mysteries to solve, scary stories, magic tricks, and contests." Rather than focus on mystery books, TheCase.com publishes short original who-done-its in several formats: Solve-It, Quick Solve-It and Chiller. The monthly mystery writing contest (for kids under twelve) consists of a fifty-word story starter to be crafted into a mini-mystery. Winning entries are published online.
What if the Hardy Boys or Sherlock Holmes had Internet access? Bruce Balan's Cyber.Kdz series is the first juvenile mystery to include junior sleuths from around the world who use the Internet as a communication and research tool. At the Cyber.Kdz site you can read chapters from the six books, meet the seven characters and peruse the Cyber.Kdz slang dictionary. Working as I do on the Internet all day long, it's great to see the Net integrated into a good story line for cyber-saavy readers (grades three to six.)
"The fascination with mystery and crime can be traced back to Ancient Greece, where playwrights like Sophocles and Euripides enthralled the local citizenry with their plays combining mystery and drama. In first-century B.C. Rome, Cicero argued passionately in court in defense of accused criminals, captivating Romans with his speeches. Read our evolution of the mystery in Time Line, and you'll see that the Ancient Greeks and Romans weren't so different from modern-day mystery fans." This captivating time line is just a taste of all that the fabulous MysteryNet has to offer. It's my pick of the day!
"In 1930, an American heroine was born -- a teenage detective named Nancy Drew. In the nearly seven decades that have since passed, Nancy has matured from sixteen to eighteen years old while solving over 350 mysteries." I am one of the many generations of girls that loved Nancy's can-do attitude, and although my daughter has yet to be bitten by the Nancy Drew bug, I am hoping she will soon. NancyDrew.com features an interactive mystery, chapters from selected books, a Shockwave game, discussion board and Nancy Drew lesson plans.
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
Kids Love a MysteryMillennium Mystery | Mystery Reading ListSherlockian |
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