September Sneakers by Ron Roy, a Mysterious Review.

Review: When twins Bradley and Brian, and their friends Nate and Lucy, discover that the school hamster that they been taking care of over the summer has been stolen, they are determined to find the culprit in September Sneakers, the ninth mystery in this series of early chapter reading books by Ron Roy.

The only clue is a mysterious keychain left where the hamster's cage was. Attached to the chain is a small sneaker, bright green in color with an orange lightning bolt on it. On their way to school the next day, the first day of the school year, where they must report the sad news, they see a pair of normal-sized sneakers hanging from a tree, in the same color and design as that of their keychain. But they are most surprised to see that their new teacher, Ms. Tery — not very subtle, there! — is wearing an identical pair of sneakers. Could Ms. Tery have something to do with the missing hamster?

The puzzle in September Sneakers is a good one but the resolution to the crime itself may give a mixed message to impressionable readers. Without giving too much away, it seems the theme here is that stealing is okay as long as it isn't done with malicious intent and is used with a positive goal in mind. True, the culprits are caught in the end, but the punishment hardly fits the crime and the whole purpose for stealing the hamster — and other items from various people in the neighborhood — in the first place is really kind of nonsensical anyway. The entries in this series can be quite entertaining, even educational, but this book really isn't one of them.

Acknowledgment: Random House provided a copy of September Sneakers for this review.

October Ogre
Random House (Paperback), August 2013
ISBN-13: 9780375868887; ISBN-10: 0375868887

September Sneakers

A Calendar Mystery by Ron Roy