Cam Jansen: The Chocolate Fudge Mystery #14 [Paperback]

David A. Adler (Author), Susanna Natti (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995 | Series: Cam Jansen (Book 14)

Amateur detective Cam Jansen and her friend, Eric, set out to raise money for the library by selling fudge, but they soon stumble upon a mystery behind closed doors. Reprint. SLJ.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4. Cam (short for Camera) Jansen and her faithful companion, Eric Shelton, encounter yet another mystery as they try to raise funds for charity by selling fudge bars and rice cakes. (They never do explain the mystery of that unlikely combination.) This time Cam spots a woman behaving suspiciously in the vicinity of a supposedly vacant house. It requires only Cam's photographic memory (which she activates by saying "Click" constantly), deductive reasoning, and a short surveillance for the duo to ascertain that a criminal is hiding out and to alert a grateful police force. Cam satisfies the childhood fantasy of being smarter than adults and dealing successfully with mystery and danger, and young readers seem to be able to tolerate the clicks and to suspend reality in order to marvel at her wonderful ways. Another fix for the beginning readers who demand mystery books. Sheilamae O'Hara --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Action-packed from the seemingly innocent beginning to the satisfying end. (School Library Journal)

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140364218
• ISBN-13: 978-0140364217
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,256,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I begin my fiction with the main character. The story comes later. Of course, since I'll be spending a lot of time with each main character, why not have him or her be someone I like? Andy Russell is based, loosely, on a beloved member of my family. He's fun to write about and the boy who inspired the character is even more fun to know. Cam Jansen is based even more loosely on a classmate of mine in the first grade whom we all envied because we thought he had a photographic memory. Now, especially when my children remind me of some promise they said I made, I really envy Cam's amazing memory. I have really enjoyed writing about Cam Jansen and her many adventures. For my books of non-fiction I write about subjects I find fascinating. My first biography was Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir. To research that book, I bought a 1905 set of encyclopedia. Those books told me what each of the places Golda Meir lived in were like when she lived there. I've written many other biographies, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr; George Washington; Abraham Lincoln; Helen Keller; Harriet Tubman; Anne Frank; and many others in my Picture Book Biography series. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more the story of his great courage than his baseball playing. Children face all sorts of challenges and it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig. I am working now on another book about a courageous man, Janusz Korczak. My book One Yellow Daffodil is fiction, too, but it's based on scores of interviews I did with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. The stories I heard were compelling. One Yellow Daffodil is both a look to the past and to the future, and expresses my belief in the great spirit and strength of our children. I love math and was a math teacher for many years, so it was fun for me to write several math books including Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons. In my office I have this sign, "Don't Think. Just Write!" and that's how I work. I try not to worry about each word, even each sentence or paragraph. For me stories evolve. Writing is a process. I rewrite each sentence, each manuscript, many times. And I work with my editors. I look forward to their suggestions, their help in the almost endless rewrite process. Well, it's time to get back to dreaming, and to writing, my dream of a job. David A. Adler is the author of more than 175 children's books, including the Young Cam Jansen series. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cam Jansen book lover, December 9, 2001

By 

DD67 "babyonahill" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cam Jansen: The Chocolate Fudge Mystery #14 (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was not the best Cam Jansen. It was a little boring. I love most of Cam Jansen's books. Cam Jansen and the mystery of the Carnival Prize is my favorite so far.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cam Jansen is one of the Best Kid Detectives I've ever read, January 18, 2005

By 

WannaBeABetty (The Sunshine State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cam Jansen: The Chocolate Fudge Mystery #14 (Mass Market Paperback)

You have to love Cam Jansen. When you're a kid, you read all of these stories about magic powers, mystery, and adventure. But everyone tells you magic can't exist. Cam Jansen manages to solve every case without the use of magic... she's a real girl. That's what makes her special and what makes you want to red more and more. Cam Jansen is a real kid superhero, and the thought that a person like her could actually exist... makes her the best kid detective ever!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and engaging chapter books for lower elementary readers, February 1, 2011

By 

Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Cam Jansen: The Chocolate Fudge Mystery #14 (Paperback)

My kindergartner has just started reading chapter books, and after the Junie B. Jones books (she loves them, I abhor them because of the rude language and weak grammar), I was desperately searching for an engaging and well-written series of chapter books for young readers who have advanced beyond the leveled readers. A good friend of mine recommended the Cam Jansen series of books and to my delight, my daughter loves the series! We initially tried the Young Cam Jansen readers such as Young Cam Jansen and the Missing Cookie and after she got through the series, I thought this would be the next step to take.

The stories are engaging and the chapters are relatively short so that it does not prove intimidating or overwhelming for a young reader. Cam Jansen is blessed with a remarkable, photographic memory and uses this gift to solve the mysteries that come her way. This story focuses on Cam's and her best friend Eric's efforts to raise funds for the local library by selling fudge but of course, they stumble on a mystery! There are black and white illustrations scattered throughout to capture readers' interest. This is a great beginning mystery series for young readers!