Adler, author of the Cam Jansen series, introduces a new easy-reader mystery series with this story about a junior detective named Jeffrey Bones. While shopping at the mall with his grandfather, Jeffrey helps his school-bus driver locate his missing bus. Jeffrey also finds a friendly dog in a pet store and his grandfather decides to buy the dog—named Curly. The volume’s design includes a short line length and plenty of white space surrounding the mid-level, first-person text, which is divided into short chapters. Illustrations on almost every page follow freckle-faced Jeffrey and his cheerful grandpa, who wears a polka-dot shirt and checked pants. The story isn’t particularly humorous, and the mini-mystery is slight, but Jeffrey, Grandpa, and Curly are now established as a team, ready to solve more mysteries. Bones and the Dog Gone Mystery (ISBN: 0-670-05948-X) is the second in the series. (Easy reader. 5-7)
