The Seattle Puzzle (The Boxcar Children)

Booktalk version: The four Alden children of the Boxcar Children mystery series are on vacation in Seattle, wrapped up in a mystery taking them to some of Seattle's most famous tourist spots, including the Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, and the Fremont Troll. Are they really seeing familiar faces as they ride a ferry and take the Underground Tour, or is there something sinister taking place on the streets of Seattle?

Full-length version: I am reading some shorter mysteries in the 500-600 Lexile level for our 5th grade teachers, trying to find a good fit for a literature circle group that has some struggling readers. They will be studying the mystery genre, and while we have several at higher levels, we need a good book for this group that has the elements of a mystery, is written at about a 3rd grade level, but looks old enough to be read by a 5th grader.

The first book I tried was The Seattle Puzzle based on The Boxcar Children mysteries series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. Warner died in 1979, but books in the series have continued to be published, following her style but updating the series to current times.

In The Seattle Puzzle, the Aldens accompany their grandfather on his business trip to Seattle and get wrapped up in a mystery, as they are known to do. There are interesting facts and locations sprinkled among the text, easily familiar to someone who has explored Seattle as a resident or a tourist. The Alden children visit the Pike Place Market, the Fremont Troll and the Underground Tour, as well as the Space Needle and Bainbridge Island via ferry.

As the children track clues and keep seeing possible familiar faces around Seattle, there are some elements of a mystery, but the ending is not as satisfactory as other traditional mysteries. There are no "bad guys" to unmask, and the children themselves do not really solve the mystery, though they work through the clues as they travel around.

I think 3rd to 4th graders would enjoy this book, and some 5th graders who are already familiar with the series. I am not going to recommend this for the mystery genre literature circles because it is not really a traditional mystery. I will continue to read in this genre, hoping to find another possible book to recommend to teachers.