Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives
In this clever chapter book, the third starring Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey, real science is seamlessly woven into four exciting cases, including the appearance of a spooky ghost and the rescue of a classmate wedged in a laundry chute.
The snappy dialogue and wacky scenarios are perfect for middle-grade readers, who will enjoy discovering the appendix of science activities. Each activity corresponds to a case in the book and will have readers scrambling for their own magnifying glasses and ghost-detection gear!
Grade 2-4-In the third installment of this series, Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey continue to use their love of science to solve mysteries. The four cases presented here include the extraction of a classmate trapped in her laundry chute, the identification of who or what is menacing the annual Budding Botanists Junior Rose Club competition, the hair-raising revelation of the ghost of the Old Mossy Graveyard, and exposing the culprits involved in the illegal sale of rare Diamond Tipped Parrots. The fifth-grade detectives are aided by their parents and Nell's dog, Dr. Livingston. The end of the book presents activities and experiments for readers to pursue in their efforts to become junior science detectives. The stories move quickly, holding readers' interest. The resolutions are viable and the elements used to crack each case are based on scientific principles. The main characters are believable and thoroughly engaging. Pencil illustrations complement the tales. Early chapter-book readers will be enchanted with the deductive skills and humor of Doyle and Fossey, whose adventures will remind the readers of Cam Jansen and Einstein Anderson. Linda B. Zeilstra, Skokie Public Library, IL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Michele Torrey first became a published author at age ten, when her story about a dinosaur egg popping out of the kitchen sink appeared in the Seaview Heights Elementary newspaper. Her fifth grade class, located in Edmonds, Washington, wrote, edited, and published the newspaper.
While Torrey has lived most of her life in Washington, she has traveled throughout the world. As a child, she lived overseas in England and France, and spent most of her junior high and high school years in Heidelberg, Germany. At the age of four, she lived in Cockfield, England, where she first attended grammar school. She remembers the handbell calling the children in from recess, the morning's recitation of the Lord's Prayer, hot custard for lunch, and the bratty girl Rosemary who stuck out her tongue at Michele and got a spanking for it. When Torrey temporarily moved back to the United States and her classmates asked how English people spoke, she promptly responded in all seriousness and with a thick country accent, "Cheerio, ol' chap!" All in all, Torrey spent ten years of her childhood overseas. She returned to the Seattle area in her senior year, after which she completed a degree in microbiology and immunology from the University of Washington.
For the past sixteen years, Torrey has explored the depths of her imagination while writing novels for adults, young adults, and middle-grade. Her books include the CHRONICLES OF COURAGE seafaring series for middle-grade (Knopf), and the DOYLE AND FOSSEY: SCIENCE DETECTIVES chapter book series (Sterling). She is a two-time Thurber House Residency in Children's Literature nominee, plus a two-time winner of PNWA's Zola Award. Among other honors, her books have been chosen by the Junior Library Guild, named by VOYA as "Top Shelf Fiction for Middle-Grade Readers", and nominated for the Sakura Medal. Most recently, her book VOYAGE OF PLUNDER was a WA State Book Award finalist. Torrey is a regular presenter at writers' conferences and schools. She lives in South Bend, Washington, with her husband. They have three grown sons, two granddaughters, and a calico cat.
In addition to her writing and traveling, Torrey is a director and co-founder of Orphans Africa, a 501 c 3 nonprofit charity (www.orphansafrica.org). Orphans Africa works primarily in Tanzania, building boarding schools for children orphaned by AIDS.
This review is from: Doyle & Fossey #3: The Case of the Graveyard Ghost (Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives) (Hardcover)
This is the first book I have read in this series and it was terrific fun. Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey are 5th grade scientists who use reason and the scientific method to solve mysteries. Their solutions are based on scientific principles which are explained in the context of the story. Kids will really enjoy the humor and witty dialogue. This Science Detectives series would be a terrific read for kids who enjoy Junie B. Jones books. Science teachers will find these books to be fun read-alouds. There is also a section at the back of the book with experiments to demonstrate the science principles illustrated in the book.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe case of the Graveyard Ghost, November 17, 2006
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Doyle & Fossey #3: The Case of the Graveyard Ghost (Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives) (Hardcover)
Wayne S.
The case of the Graveyard Ghost is a cool book it is mostly about Dolly and Fossy two dectives ade their dog and they read that their was a graveyard ghost. So they solved the mystery by listening to where the voice was comeing out of and it was coming from behind the shed and not out of the ghost mouth.Then a kid from their class brought a illeagle petto school. So they went to the pet store were he bought it and there was the rest them.And the man put them in a cage and they broke out and called the cops.
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2.0 out of 5 starsGraveyard Ghost, November 3, 2005
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Doyle & Fossey #3: The Case of the Graveyard Ghost (Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives) (Hardcover)
This book is not that scary. I thought it would be scarier by the picture on the cover with the ghost coming out from behind a gravestone and blood coming out of his mouth. I think this book should be a funny book because it already has some funny parts, but it's not scary at all. I expectd there to be some ghosts coming out everywhere and then disappearing again. I think maybe 5 or 4 year olds would like this book because it's not too scary and they wouldn't put it down and never want to read it again.
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