A to Z Mysteries: The Invisible Island (A Stepping Stone Book(TM)) [Formato Kindle]

This is an okay storyline, nothing great or memorable but it does teach some good lessons such as if you find something you should try and track down the owner or hand it in to the appropriate authorities (in this case the small town police officer) rather than just keep it for yourself. The only problem I had with this book is the misleading title. The book had nothing at all to do with an island that at any stage of the book is ever invisible (it was a foggy day on one of the trips, but this is a bit of stretch for even the most imaginative). I would think most people typing invisible into their library catalogue or purchasing through a retail store website would reading the title expect the book to actually have some element of invisibility in the storyline. The back pages tell us some kid from Ohio won a competition to name the book (who obviously needed to think up something with two words beginning with the letter I) but you'd think the competition would need the title to be related to the actual story though and not just a random name drawn from a barrel which was obviously the case. That's my only problem with this book though, it would be an enjoyable read for anyone after a group of kids solve a mystery adventure read.

The Invisible Island is the 9th book in the A-Z Mysteries series set in the small town of Green Lawn. Reoccurring characters from previous books, kids named Dink, Josh and Ruth decide to go on a picnic to a river island called Squaw Island which pretty much has nothing except poison ivy growing on it. At least that's what the town assumes but the kids find a hundred dollar bill. Handing it into the police they are told it will be there's to keep if no one claims it in 30 days so head back the next day to see if they can find more. They stumble upon a major crime but and fear they have been spotted by one of the criminals. Being adventurous kids they decide not to just leave it up to the police to solve but to try and solve it themselves which of course gets them into a bit of trouble along the way.

If you were actually after invisibility junior fiction check out My Best Friend Is Invisible (Goosebumps) by R. L. Stine, You Are Invisible: CYOA #48 by Susan Saunders, The Invisible Day by Marthe Jocelyn, Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex, Possum Magic (Voyager Books) by Mem Fox, in fact you can even get an illustrated version of H.G. Wells 1897 classic The Invisible Man (Great Illustrated Classics).

I used with a student who was older but it helped her comprehension. She loved this story. It helped her to build her vocabulary, use context clues, and use clues to predict the stories. The author provides a map in the front that provided a great visual reference for my student. We were able to practice mapping skills and do many activities based on the story. It is a good series if children are not ready for the Harry Potter series.

I have all the A toZ Mysteries!I love them! But this one might be one of my favorites of Ron Roy's books! He is such a good mystery writer! He's my favorite writer! I wish we had more authors like that!