Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

When 10yo Ivy breaks her leg on the first day of summer vacation, she's sure this will be the worst summer ever. But when she witnesses what might be a burglary in her neighborhood, Ivy becomes an amateur detective. With the help of her best friend Teddy - who is dealing with his own trauma, Ivy's boring summer might just turn into a crime solving, friend saving miracle summer.

Mystery on Magnolia Circle is a fun summer read, but also contains themes of homelessness, mental illness, friendship and grief. At the end of every chapter, Ivy responds with "what she learned" which was my favorite part. The seemingly heavy topics are addressed age appropriately and don't bring down the story. I really liked it, it will appeal to both boys and girls.

I enjoyed very much this book. It will be a great addiction to our collection.
Thank you to the NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy.

Mystery on Magnolia Circle is a young middle grade book (with a few illustrations) about a summer of solving a neighborhood mystery. Driven by a strong, smart female protagonist and featuring a heartwarming dog subplot, this book will appeal to readers who like gripping stories. It's definitely for a younger age group, though, so I would recommend it for kids in grades 3-5.

On the first day of summer vacation, ten-year-old Ivy falls down the stairs and winds up with her leg in a cast. She thinks her summer is ruined, but little does she know that it will be full of mystery! Stuck at home, Ivy thinks she witnesses a crime in the neighborhood—and one of her classmates might be involved in the action. She and her pal Teddy begin an investigation into the events in their neighborhood. This was a fun, quick paced book with not just one, but two mysteries. It will be great for elementary/middle grade fans of mystery, friendship, and dog stories. As a bonus, each chapter wraps up with a little summary of something Ivy learned from her experiences, which is a nice way to show middle grade readers mindfulness and reflection in action.

5 stars

This was an absolutely delightful book about a girl who breaks her leg and has to spend her summer in a cast. She and her best friend live on a cul-de-sac with their dogs and she was looking forward to a summer hanging out and playing. But between her cast and his sick dog, she is not looking forward to summer. Her mom (a psychiatrist) and her doctor encourages her to discover a new hobby and she slowly becomes involved in solving a mystery in her neighborhood. Each chapter ends with a lesson that she has learned and helps solidify the chapter in the minds of readers. The illustrations are really cute and I just enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book for those who love mysteries, dogs, adventures, and middle school books. I would love to read another book by this author and can think of several of my students who would enjoy this as well.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a fun, fast paced mystery for upper elementary. It has a good story line with several mysteries and some awesome advice along the way.

Mystery on Magnolia Circle is a fun mystery that would be great as a read aloud either at school or with parents. There is an interesting twist near the end that I didn’t see coming.

If kids like mysteries, they may like this one. It’s cute and almost has two mysteries in one, full review on goodreads.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-ARC of this short novel.

This is a great quick mystery and I think many middle grade readers will like this one. It's perfect for younger middle grade readers, but still engaging for tweens.

This was a cute mystery that took some turns that I wasn't expecting.

3.5 stars

Ivy breaks her leg at the beginning of the summer and she can't do any of the typical summer things. So while she's stuck at home, watching through the window, she thinks she witnesses a crime. She calls her best friend, Teddy, over to try and figure out what's going on in the neighborhood.

There were a lot of things I liked in this book. One in particular is that at the end of every chapter, Ivy says what she learned from what just happened. One of my favorites was "I'm not the only person who acts mad when they feel sad". It's a good book about friendship, caring, and getting all of the information before jumping to conclusions. Teddy and Ivy's friendship was wonderful to witness. They both love and support each other.

"Even with a broken leg, life could still be big and fun and wonderful, as long as you had a best friend and a best dog."

Kate Klise wins again. This was an enjoyable simple mystery with heart. The life lessons of what you can learn while holed up with a broken leg were good for readers.

Ivy is stuck in a car all summer and she’s bummed. Her best friend Teddy is there to help her make the most of the summer, including solving some mysteries. There is a lot of interaction with Ivy’s parents, neighbors, and friends. At the end of each chapter Ivy tells us what she’s learned. There are small illustrations to accompany these. There seems to be a lot of freedom given to two 10 year olds, but I think it works for the adventure part of the book. There are some serious topics but for the most part it’s a light-hearted read. This was a fun, fast-paced chapter book. I think the subject matter and the text would make this good for 3rd-5th grade.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC version of this book. I chose to read this book as I am a 3rd grade teacher and teach a mystery reading unit each year. I am always looking for engaging mysteries that will hook my readers.

The tagline for this book was Nancy Drew meets Rear Window, which are both favorites of mine so I was excited to start. This story follows a girl , Ivy, who breaks her foot and has to spend the summer with a cast on her foot in crutches. She has a best friend Teddy, who is a great character with traits of a good friend, spends the summer hanging out with her while she's stuck in the house.

There were several things I loved about this book. Ivy's doctor tells her to take time to learn important things while she's slowing down, so at the end of each chapter, Ivy has a thought that she jots down that she learns as her adventures unfold. I love this social emotional piece for students to see the value of journaling, mindfulness, self growth, and learning from mistakes. There are several mysteries that unfold through the book, with a plot twist at the end. The author also mentions what a "red herring" is within the book which is a skill I teach my students about the mystery genre. At the end of the book Ivy decides to "give back" and I like students to be able to see that self growth in a character.

This is a delightful little gem I will be purchasing for my own classroom library.

I found Mystery on Magnolia Circle by Kate Kline to be easy and fun to read. It was very loosely based on Rear Window. The connection is that Ivy, the main character, had surgery for a broken leg, like the main character in Rear Window, and passes her summer observing the events around her neighborhood and working with her friend, Teddy, to solve mysteries.
The crime spree in Ivy’s neighborhood is the focus of the book. She teams up with Teddy to solve the mystery. They learn that a student in their school was involved, which leads to a heightening of their interest.
The story is about friendship and perseverance. With her friend she is overcome her new handicap and doggedly work on the mystery .
The book is also about the love and loss of a pet. It is a subject that students can easily relate to. However, the serious topic of child homelessness, as seen through their classmate Melvin, and its relationship to juvenile crime is a particularly important subject to be examined.
Mystery on Magnolia Circle is not a complicated book. It is involving because of its themes and topics. Therefore, it is a good book ton introduce the genre of mystery to students. . I think it is also a good way to encourage reluctant readers.

Ivy had an accident and will have to be on crutches during the summer. But her summer isn't ruined - it will be her most interesting one ever. When a burglary takes place across the street, Ivy has a hunch that a classmate may be involved. She and best friend Teddy, whose beloved dog just died, go to work to solve the case. This short, easy-to-read mystery packs a lot of events in, and is especially livened by Ivy's comment at the end of each chapter on what she has learned.

I love this author and I jumped at the chance to read this one. Great Middle-Grade mystery. Highly recommend. This one will make a great addition to any library.

Kate Klise is a great, classic middle grade writer. The mystery was fun, the St Louis & Missouri details were cool to see (from someone who grew up there), and the ways the everything came together in the end was really sweet. A solid middle grade.

A solid mystery for chapter book readers transitioning to MG novels. The two main characters are going into 5th grade and like most kids of that age seem to fluctuate between acting younger than their age and moments of maturity. I was a bit disappointed that although Ivy and Teddy are directly responsible for solving a rash of robberies, the action of capturing the criminals and helping their friend takes place off-stage and is only described briefly after the fact. The second mystery, about Teddy's dog Lotty, is settled much more satisfactorily. While not an essential purchase for a library, this is still a good choice for young mystery fans.

This was a quick, pleasant read. It took some unexpected turns, but I think it pulled off the story it was trying to tell. I enjoyed the whimsical but deadpan tone and the lovely illustrations.