IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE PLAYGROUND

Snoop Troop can solve the case…with a little help from readers.

Fourth-grader Logan Lang loves mysteries; she reads them, and she solves them. That’s why when she hears about mysterious doings at Hurling Rivers Amusement Park on her combination lunch box and police radio, she hotfoots it out there. Someone has stolen the merry-go-round. Logan starts her investigation, but Gustavo Muchomacho, an overeager boy from school, keeps sticking his nose (and his fake mustache) into things. The duo pool their talents just as the whole playground is stolen from the school, and they discover trained moles are behind the thefts…but who’s behind the trained moles? There’s no shortage of suspects, and readers get to guess based on presented evidence. Scroggs kicks off an interactive series of goofy mysteries with this heavily illustrated hybrid of graphic novel, mystery fiction and activity book. Logan regularly breaks the fourth wall to address her narrator and the audience. Readers are asked to sketch suspects (moles) and find evildoers (moles) in the illustrations. Twenty pages of extra activities (along with the admonishment to only write in the book if it belongs to you to avoid the wrath of librarians) follow the satisfyingly silly story.

Mystery (and humor) mavens will eagerly await future cases.