Published by Puffin Books
Summary: Zach and Zoe are eight-year-old twins who love sports and solving mysteries. When Zach brings his prized autographed baseball to school for sharing, he is dismayed when it disappears during lunchtime. Zoe is on the case, scouting the area for clues and trying to piece together what happened when the kids were out of the classroom. Meanwhile, it’s Spirit Week, and the entire third grade is competing for points to see if the Blue team or the White team will get the highest score. It all comes down to a final baseball game, with Zach and Zoe each captaining their teams, for the resolution of both the Spirit Week competition and the missing baseball mystery. 80 pages; grades 1-3.
Pros: In his first foray into books for younger kids, Mike Lupica does a nice job of creating a mystery that has plenty of sports action. A good series for fans of David A, Kelly’s Baseball Mysteries and MVP series.
Cons: I found Zoe and Zach’s parents pretty annoying; it seemed like every other page featured one of them offering advice or one of the kids recalling some pearl of wisdom from Mom or Dad.
