Great Writers and Kids Write Mystery Stories (Great Writers & Kids Anthologies) [Paperback]

Martin H. Greenberg (Author)

Book Description

Series: Great Writers & Kids Anthologies

This anthology features 13 mystery stories written by well-known mystery authors collaborating with their children and grandchildren. Each story features a short personal introduction by the adult and child writing team on what it was like to collaborate on their included story. Contributors include Scott Turow, Sharyn McCrumb, Stuart Kaminsky, Jonathan Kellerman, Elizabeth Engstrom, and many others.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-A unique concept for a horror anthology. Thirteen authors, many of whom are best known for their adult work (e.g., John Jakes, Ramsay Campell, and F. Paul Wilson), were commissioned to write short stories in collaboration with their children or grandchildren. Although all of the selections feature youthful protagonists, they vary widely in theme, style, and "scare quotient." Some are shockers in the "Goosebumps" (Scholastic) vein-giant spiders, alien abductions, and walking scarecrows. They feature lots of physical action, vivid emotional reactions, and usually gruesome conclusions. Other tales are evocative explorations of childhood terrors-darkness, closet monsters, and loneliness. They are less graphic and produce their own kind of terror. The young characters face their personal demons alone, and must rely on their problem-solving resources to defeat evil forces. Significantly, all of the stories of this type end successfully. Wilson's humorously eerie full-page black-and-white illustrations add shivers to the collection. The variety of stories should make the book popular, and the fact that it is an intergenerational collaboration makes it an excellent model for writing projects.?Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Sleuths eager for less formulaic company than Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys will enjoy this pulse-quickening second collection of collaborations between writers and children (Great Writers and Kids Write Spooky Stories, 1995, not reviewed). A brief introduction by Morgan and Weinberg defines the elements of a good mystery, as well as its many sub-genres (the cozy, the police procedural, etc.), then the fun begins as bodies start to drop. Sharyn McCrumb and her children choose the unlikely setting of an old-age home for a compelling mystery about the disappearance of a child years ago that continues to haunt one of the elderly patients; readers will love the McCrumbs' wry tone, the crusty but endearing geriatric characters, and the memorable and disturbing ending. A similar sense of the sinister charges Ed and son Joe Gorman's tale of the inexplicable rise to popularity of a high school nerd. Scott Turow and daughter Eve offer more of a fairy tale than a whodunnit--a mystery concerning the human heart. Stuart Kaminsky and daughter Lucy play a varying riff on a family's twisted relations, where a mother's seeming devotion leads to the permanent damage of her son. Whether readers go through these contributions front-to-back or pick and choose among them, the collection provides both an opportunity and a motive for diversion. (Short stories. 8+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (November 19, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679879390
• ISBN-13: 978-0679879398
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK TO BE TREASURED BY ADULTS AND CHILDREN., February 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Writers and Kids Write Mystery Stories (Great Writers & Kids Anthologies) (Paperback)

This is a wonderful anthology. Top-notch mystery writers and their children (and, in some cases, grandchildren) collaborated on a variety of entertaining stories.

Pay particular attention to "Releve", the story contributed by Patricia Wallace and her daughter. This story introduces us to Sydney Bryant, the private eye that Pat Wallace has featured in a terrific series for adults. The titles in the series include "Deadly Devotion" and "Blood Lies".

Other outstanding stories include those by Wendy Hornsby, Scott Turow, Stuart Kaminsky, and Sharyn McCrumb (and their collaborators). This is a book that parents can read and enjoy with their children. It might inspire them to collaborate on some mystery stories of their own!

I look forward to reading the companion volume, "Great Writers and Kids Write Spooky Stories". I

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mini-lesson on mystery writing, July 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Writers and Kids Write Mystery Stories (Paperback)

"When you think of a mystery, what comes to mind? A dark secret? An unsolved crime? A curious detective hunting for clues?"

The only mystery, the only secret, the only crime is how this anthology could be so easily overlooked. "Great Writers and Kids Write Mystery Stories" (1996) is a collection of stories written by some of today's greatest mystery authors in collaboration with their children and grandchildren. Jonathan Kellerman, Sharyn McCrumb, and Scott Turow are three of the thirteen award-winning writers that create wonderous whodunits with their offspring, ages 6 to adult.

While written at about the junior high/ middle school level, this complilation is enjoyable to all. The stories are five to several pages. Some are written with the child as the amateur detective, some are written as a type of psychological thriller.

The introduction serves as a "mini-lesson" on mystery writing. And, each story features a short personal introduction by the adult and child writing team on what it was like to collaborate on their included story. Other contributors include Barbara D'Amato, Ed Gorman, Stuart Kaminsky, Elizabeth Engstrom, and many others.

This book has the unique ability to be educational as well as entertaining. Those that enjoy this book may also enjoy the first volume as well: "Great Writers and Kids Write Spooky Stories" (1995).