West Meadows Detectives: The Case of the Berry Burglars

Fast paced and attention grabbing mystery. For kids who love mysteries and caper style whodunit books. Easy for my 7 year old to follow and read without assistance. Captivating and engaging so that you want to read another book in this series.
"Super good go grab it," - Connor, aged 7.

4.5 stars
Third grader, Myron with friend Hajrah, investigate the dug up strawberries that are missing from the school garden. List of suspects includes Lauren who wants a better spot for growing her flowers and the baseball players because the garden is in their outfield.
The next day, a neighbor to the school comes in claiming that his strawberries were taken by kids from the school. He had found a baseball cap with the school’s logo on it. As the mystery progresses, more and more strawberry gardens near the school have had their plants removed.
A good, fast paced mystery. A couple of the kids have autism, so the element of being different and learning how to handle those differences is there, but not a main-focus.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher, Owlkids Books, for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This books was an excellent read, especially for 2nd - 3rd graders. I enjoyed the inclusion of characters on the spectrum for autism and ADHD but it wasn’t the focus of the story at all. It lightly touched on some of the internal feelings and sensitivities such as feeling like his head is buzzing when things are different. It also was excellent to see the friendship between Myron and Hajrah (Character with trouble sitting still) and how Hajrah was always considerate of pushing Myron (character on autism spectrum) past his comfort zone in a positive way but not pressuring him or teasing him when he is nervous.

I enjoyed the pacing of the story and the level of challenge to figuring out the mystery. It reminded me of Encyclopedia Brown which I loved when I was young. There was a good story line, a good amount of clues to help reader try to solve on their own before the ending but not so many clues that it was obvious from the beginning which would take the fun out of the book. It was well-written and my 8 and 6 year old both enjoyed it very much and provided a good opportunity to open up some conversation touch points about Kids who seem “different” and treating other kids nicely, what happens when parents get sick, stealing, etc. I highly recommend this book and I can’t wait to read more in the series with my kids.

I loved this book! I love the diversity! I love the mystery. My third grade students will love this series. I am definitely going to look into purchasing the series for my classroom!

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in return for a review. I did not realize that this was a series. I liked that there were things that set this book apart from others for this age, including main characters who are in a special needs class, some diversity, and the mystery aspect. This really made me think about the problems some students have with noise, and how not everyone is accommodating of that. The portrayal of the principal was a bit uneven, but the classroom teacher was ideal for the main characters. The inclusion of gardening was another plus; it made me want to have some strawberries and dig into some soil!

West Meadows Detectives: The Case of the Berry Burglars
by Liam O'Donnell
Owlkids Books
Owlkids
Children's Fiction , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 15 Oct 2018
I am reviewing a copy of West Meadow Detectives: The Case Of the Berry Burglars and through Owlkids and Netgalley:
Myron is in third grade, he's a detective who loves logic, facts and solving mysteries, when the schools strawberry plants are missing, he must find out if raccoons are to blame or was it the baseball team sabotage the plants to take back the outfield? Soon neighborhood gardens also have missing strawberries, and Myron is on the case.
Byron has a unique perspective being on the autism spectrum as well as his eye for detail make him a top detective. The other kids in his resource room also have unique habits that come in handy. Together this group of third grade detectives come together to track down the culprits!
I give The West Meadow Detectives: The Case Of the Berry Burglars five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!

A delightfully fun mystery. It was well written and know that the students in my library will love it. It has a great pace and characters that have spunk and are great sleuths. I recommend this book to young mystery lovers